Claude S. Brinegar

Source: White House press release, December 7, 1972.

The President today announced his intention to nominate Claude S. Brinegar, of Rolling Hills, California, to be Secretary of Transportation. He will succeed John A. Volpe, who has been Secretary of Transportation since January 1969 and who will be nominated to be Ambassador to Italy.

Mr. Brinegar has been with the Union Oil Company of California since 1953. He is a Senior Vice President of the firm and is a member of Union Oil's Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Mr. Brinegar also serves as President of the Union 76 Division of Union Oil.

He joined Union Oil as an Economic Analyst and held several positions in economics, planning and research until 1965, when he was elected Vice President for Corporate Planning. In that capacity he managed the merger between Union Oil and the Pure Oil Company. In October 1965 he was appointed President of Pure Oil and remained in that position until 1968 when Pure became Union 76 and he was elected to his current positions.

From 1950 to 1953, while pursuing graduate degrees, Mr. Brinegar was a Research Assistant with the Food Research Institute in Stanford, California, and an Economic Consultant to the Emporium-Capwell Corporation in San Francisco, California. He has been an extension instructor for the University of California at Los Angeles (1955-60), Whittier College (1956) and the California Institute of Technology (1957), and has contributed to several professional journals.

Mr. Brinegar was born December 16, 1926, in Rockport, California.

He served in the U. S. Army Air Force from 1945 to 1947. Mr. Brinegar received three degrees from Stanford University, a B.A. in economics with Great Distinction in 1950, an M.S. in math statistics in 1951 and a Ph. D. in economic research in 1953. While at Stanford he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

He is a Director of the American Petroleum Institute and is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization and the American Statistical Association. Mr. Brinegar was a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Mental Health Association from 1964 to 1965.

Mr. Brinegar is married to the former Elva Jackson and they have, three children. They are former residents of Yorba Linda, California, and now reside in Rolling Hills, California.

Return to the Ford Administration Cabinet Meetings Page

Search the Ford Library & Museum website

Go to the Home Page

Send e-mail to the Ford Library

[ Search | Home Page | E-mail ]

URL: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/library/exhibits/cabinet/brinegar.htm
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 14, 1998