KNOXVILLE ― Jeff W. Smith, of Knoxville, officially assumed his role as a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on January 11, after taking the oath of office in a ceremony in Knoxville. His term will expire on May 18, 2022.

Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on September 21, 2017 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21, 2017. He was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

“During my time at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I’ve seen first-hand the increasing pace of change in energy technology, and how it directly affects people’s lives,” said Smith. “As a board member, I look forward to helping TVA adapt to these changes and continue its mission of service to the people of the Tennessee Valley.”

Director Smith lives in Knoxville and serves as the Executive Vice President of Operations for UT-Battelle and the Deputy for Operations at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a past chairman of DOE’s National Laboratory Chief Operations Officers working group and served a six-month special assignment in 2002 participating in the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio State University.

Smith is one of four newly confirmed appointees to the TVA board of directors along with James “Skip” Thompson of Decatur, Ala., Kenneth Allen of White Plains, Ky., and A.D. Frazier of Mineral Bluff, Ga. They will join current TVA Chair Richard Howorth of Oxford, Miss., and Directors Virginia Lodge of Nashville, Tenn., Eric Satz of Nashville, Tenn., and Ronald Walter of Memphis, Tenn.

One additional vacancy remains on the nine-member board, which next meets on Feb. 16, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving more than 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.