Founder of Heartland Express Truck Lines Awarded Plaque on Iowa Walk of Fame

Shawn Johnson and John Pappajohn among other honorees

Shenandoah, Iowa, will dedicate twelve plaques on the Iowa Walk of Fame downtown honoring musicians, singers, writers, entrepreneurs, an astronaut, a cartoonist, an athlete, an actress, and a college founder.  Among those being honored is Russell Gerdin, founder of Heartland Express Trucking of North Liberty.

The Iowa Walk of Fame was dedicated in 2001 to honor those Iowans who have distinguished themselves in America.  This year's theme "Iowa Walk of Fame Among the Flowers." 

Currently, 121 Iowans are recognized along the walk including former president Herbert Hoover, singer Andy Williams, wrestler Dan Gable, and NFL quarterback Kurt Warner.  Additions this year include (name, city, occupation):

• Dick Dale, Algona, Singer and Musician on Lawrence Welk TV Show
• Kenny Gardner, Lake View, Lead vocalist for the Guy Lombardo Band
• Russell Gerdin, North Liberty, Founded Heartland Express
• V.T. Hamlin, Perry, Created Ally Oop Comic Strip
• Shawn Johnson, West Des Moines, Gold Medal Olympic Gymnast 2008 and Dancing With the Stars Winner 2009
• Willie Leacox, Shenandoah, Lead Drummer for the band America
• D.D. Palmer, Davenport, founded Palmer Chiropractic College
• John Pappajohn, Mason City, Philanthropist/Entrepreneur
• Laura Ingalls Wilder, Burr Oak, Author of Little House on the Prairie book series
• Kay Stewart, Shenandoah, TV & Movie Actress
• Peggy Whitson, Mount Ayr, NASA Astronaut
• Evelyn Birkby, Sidney, Author and Radio Star

About Russell Gerdin, Founder of Heartland Express, Inc. Truck Lines

Russell Gerdin was born in Princeton, Minnesota, in 1941.  He earned his BS at Moorhead State College in Minnesota in 1965.  It was in Coralville, Iowa, that he founded Heartland Express in 1978, with a four person operation and possessing 16 trucks.  By 2008, Gerdin’s company employed 3,500 people nationwide.

Gerdin’s Heartland Express is consistently included in Forbes Magazine’s list of "200 Best Small Companies in America."  Heartland Express has been on the list for five consecutive years and a total of fifteen years over a twenty year period as a publicly traded company.  Under Gerdin’s leadership, Heartland Express has been an effective leader in campaigning for better pay and benefits for drivers.  The company has been honored many times as being among the nation’s best in truck driver pay.

Mr. Gerdin and his wife, Ann, created the Gerdin Charitable Foundation and have funded numerous scholarship and educational opportunities.  They have given substantial funds to Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, ten million and five million respectively.  The Gerdins have made other significant gifts to these institutions as well as a wellness center in Moorhead, Minnesota.  In addition, they continue to support charitable causes including a total donation of four million dollars to the American Cancer Society, leading to the construction of Hope Lodge in Iowa City, Iowa.

Russell Gerdin counts close friends in Shenandoah dating from the few years the firm was based there prior to settling in Coralville (and now North Liberty).