Brinegar, Claude S. (Claude Stout), 1926-2009

Claude Stout Brinegar was born December 16, 1926, in Rockport, California. He received a Ph.D. in economic research from Stanford University. He was a senior vice president for refining and marketing at the Los Angeles-based Union Oil Company when, on December 1, 1972, he was nominated to be the nation's third Secretary of Transportation and served from February 2, 1973 to February 1, 1975. While Secretary, he confronted railroad revitalization and proposed regulatory reforms that the collapse of the Northeastern railroads made necessary, reauthorization of the federal highway program, and the impact of transportation on energy consumption and the environment, triggered by the energy shortage of 1973-74. Following government service, he returned to the Union Oil Company, where he was elected senior vice president and member of the Executive Committee. He subsequently served as leader of the Reagan transition team for the Department of Transportation. After retiring as Vice Chairman from Unocal Corporation, as it was later named, he was elected to the Conrail Board of Directors.