Nominated by President George W. Bush as a Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors in May 2007. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2008. Elected Chairman of the Board in 2009. Mr. Carper was a small business owner from Macomb, IL, and served as Mayor of Macomb from 1991 to 2003. He was appointed by the Amtrak Board of Directors to serve on the Amtrak Mayors' Advisory Council and served as its Chair from 2000 to 2001. In 2003, he was named regional director of the West Central Region for Opportunity Returns by the Illinois governor. He retired from this position in 2010. Mr. Carper received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Illinois University in 1982. He served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1970 in Thailand and Vietnam.
