Memphis accountant Lynn Evans today became the first woman and the first African American to ever preside over the TVA board.
But Evan's term as TVA chair will also be one of the shortest.
Because Evans term on the TVA board expires in May, and she will have to leave the board by the end of the year unless she is reappointed, the TVA board today elected former Oxford, Miss., mayor Richard Howorth as the next TVA chairman, effective May 19. Howorth, who will serve as chair of the TVA board until May 2019, was reappointed to the TVA board in 2015 and serves through 2020 as one of the most experienced member of the 9-member board.
"We know there will be grand continuity with the board going forward," Evans said after Howorth was elected to succeed her as chair.
Evans herself was elected last month by the remaining six members of the TVA board after three TVA board members, including former Chairman Joe Ritch, were not confirmed the by U.S. Senate last year. Ritch, Mike McWherter and Pete Mahurin left the board last month after their reappointment by President Obama was not acted upon by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Obama appointed all of the remaining six TVA directors and President Trump is expected to name new directors to the TVA board later this year. Five of the nine board seats will be up for appointment in 2017, giving the new White House and GOP-led Senate the chance to put a new majority on the TVA board.
Howorth of Oxford, Miss., served two terms as mayor of Oxford and is founder and owner of Square Books, a leading independent bookstore in the U.S. As mayor, he was chairman of the authority overseeing the Oxford Electric Department.
Evans is the owner of V. Lynn Evans CPA, a certified public accounting and consulting firm established in 1983. Evans also serves on the board of directors of First Alliance Bank and the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation in Memphis, Tenn. She resigned from the board of commissioners of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division in January 2013.