Atlanta, Ga., USA - July 28, 2010, Atlanta, Ga., USA - Southern Company chairman, president and CEO David M. Ratcliffe announced that he will retire December 1.
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Mr. Ratcliffe is also a Director of CSX Corporation where he currently serves on the Executive, and Operations and Public Affairs Committees and as Chair of the Finance Committee. Other directorships: CSX Corporation, Alabama Power and Georgia Power.
As part of the company's succession and management transition plan, Mr. Ratcliffe also announced a number of executive appointments.
Thomas A. Fanning, currently the company's chief operating officer, has been named president of Southern Company effective August 1. Upon Mr. Ratcliffe's retirement, Mr. Fanning will become chairman and CEO of Southern Company.
Since joining Southern Company in 1980 as a financial analyst, Mr. Fanning has held numerous officer-level positions in the areas of finance, strategy, international business development and technology. Prior to becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2008, he was Southern Company's chief financial officer. Fanning also served as president and CEO of the company's Florida subsidiary, Gulf Power, and chief financial officer of subsidiaries Georgia Power and Mississippi Power.
Mr. Fanning earned bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His executive education includes programs at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, Harvard University School of Business and the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. Mr. Fanning also serves on the board of directors for The St. Joe Company.
In addition, the following leadership changes were announced, effective August 13:
Art P. Beattie has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Southern Company.
Mr. Beattie, currently executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Alabama Power, joined the Southern Company system at Alabama Power in 1976 as a junior accountant and progressed through a number of management and officer-level roles in the company's accounting, finance, treasury and corporate governance organizations.
Mr. Beattie holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Tennessee and a master of business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also has completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
W. Paul Bowers, currently Southern Company's chief financial officer, has been named chief operating officer of Georgia Power.
Mr. Bowers joined the company in 1979 at Gulf Power. Before being named chief financial officer of Southern Company in 2008, Mr. Bowers served as president of Southern Company Generation and president and CEO of Southern Power. He also was president and CEO of the company's former United Kingdom subsidiary, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Southern Company and has held executive positions at Georgia Power.
Mr. Bowers is a 1978 graduate of the University of West Florida and also holds a master's degree in management from Troy University. In 1993, he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He serves on the boards of Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited and is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's energy policy council.
Anthony J. Topazi has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Company, succeeding Mr. Fanning.
Mr. Topazi, named president and chief executive officer of Mississippi Power in 2004, began his career with Southern Company at Alabama Power in 1969. Progressing through roles of increasing responsibility, he has held executive positions in Alabama Power's customer service organization, including vice president for the divisions serving Birmingham and the state's western region. He also has served as senior vice president of Southern Power – the company subsidiary that acquires, builds, manages and owns wholesale generation assets – and as executive vice president for Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing.
Mr. Topazi earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He serves on the board of directors of the Hancock Bank Holding Company and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - New Orleans branch, and is a member of the Engineering Council at Auburn University.
Edward Day, VI will succeed Mr. Topazi as president and CEO of Mississippi Power.
Mr. Day joined Southern Company in 1983 as an engineer in the company's nuclear operations division and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility across a number of functional areas, including engineering and business development, before becoming executive vice president, engineering and construction services for Southern Company Services in 2003. ■