ATLANTA, Feb. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
Company today announced the election of Linda P. Hudson to its board of directors.
Hudson is the retired president and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc., a
U.S.-based global defense, aerospace and security company, where
she currently serves as an adviser and outside director. BAE
Systems, Inc. is the wholly owned subsidiary of London-based BAE Systems plc.
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"Linda is an internationally renowned business leader for her
experience in the defense industry," said Southern Company
Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A.
Fanning. "Her leadership in business operations and
ability to drive results will be a tremendous asset to Southern
Company as we prepare for America's energy future."
Prior to her five-year tenure as CEO, Hudson served as president
of BAE Systems' Land & Armaments operating group, the world's
largest military vehicle and equipment business. Before joining BAE
Systems in 2006, she served as an officer and vice president of the
General Dynamics Corp. and president of General Dynamics Armament
and Technical Products.
During a period of significant consolidation in the defense
industry, Hudson held a variety of senior management positions in
engineering, production operations, program management and business
development. She began her career with the Harris Corporation and
Ford Aerospace, and later led organizations at Martin Marietta
through the Lockheed Martin merger and a subsequent divestiture to
General Dynamics.
A member of the Bank of America board of directors, Hudson has
been honored as one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in
Business and one of Washington's
100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian Magazine. She is a member
of the International Women's Forum and C200, a global organization
of women business leaders that presented her with the 2011 Luminary
Award for Corporate Innovation. Hudson was also recognized by the
USO with the 2011 Woman of the Year Distinguished Service Award.
She received the Association of the U.S. Army's Dixon Award for her
outstanding contribution to our nation's security in 2013 and was
inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame in December 2013. Hudson recently joined the board
of directors for the Center for a New American Security, a
bipartisan Washington, D.C., think
tank.
Hudson earned a bachelor's degree in system engineering from the
University of Florida, where she
remains active in the alumni and athletic associations, serves on
the advisory boards for the College of Engineering and the
Foundation Board and is a Distinguished Alumnus. She is also a
member of the university's Industrial and Systems Engineering Hall
of Fame. Hudson also holds an honorary doctorate in engineering
from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute.
With 4.4 million customers and nearly 46,000 megawatts of
generating capacity, Atlanta-based
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving
the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of
clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company
owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive
generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless
communications. Southern Company brands are known for energy
innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail
electric prices that are below the national average. Southern
Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear
renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units
to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating
their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a
state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been
recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer
and listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks. The company
received the 2012 Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute
for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric
Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is
continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual
World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility
rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.
SOURCE Southern Company