Gilliland joins TVA board as first director from Georgia

Retired Blairsville, Ga., banker Tom Gilliland was sworn in today as the first director ever from Georgia on the Tennessee Valley Authority board.

Mr. Gilliland, who will join the TVA board next Thursday for his first board meeting in Knoxville, took the oath of office today from U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell in Atlanta. He becomes the seventh member of the current TVA board, succeeding former TVA Chairman Bill Baxter who resigned in January 2007.

A native of Atlanta, Mr. Gilliland recently retired as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville. He is a former chief of staff to Georgia Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard and served as chairman of the Stone Mountain Authority under Georgia Govs. Roy Barnes and Sonny Perdue.

“I am honored to serve on the TVA board and look forward to serving with my colleagues on the board to help TVA meet the challenges of the 21st Century and make the Tennessee Valley a better place to live and work for everyone,” Mr. Gilliland said in a prepared statement.

President Bush nominated Gilliland for the board post last July, and the Senate confirmed the appointment March 13. His term expires May 18, 2011.

Two other directors nominated by President Bush — Susan Richardson Williams of Knoxville and Bishop William Graves of Memphis — still are awaiting Senate confirmation.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.