Robert McGehee
Encyclopedia
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Progress Energy. He became chief executive officer on March 1, 2004, and chairman on May 12, 2004. McGehee was president and chief operating officer from October 2002 to March 2004. He died of a stroke while on a business trip in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Early life
A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, McGehee graduated from H.V. Cooper High School in 1961. McGehee earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval AcademyUnited States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
in 1966, and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1972. McGehee graduated from the Nuclear Power School and Submarine School. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy on the USS John Marshall (SSBN611), a nuclear submarine, in various engineering positions.
Business career
He was president and chief executive officer of the Progress Energy Service Company and executive vice presidentVice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
, general counsel of Progress Energy (formerly CP&L).
McGehee joined CP&L on May 20, 1997, as senior vice president and general counsel. Prior to joining Progress Energy, McGehee was chairman of Wise Carter Child & Caraway, a law firm in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, where he provided legal work for Entergy Corporation, CP&L , the former Houston Lighting & Power Co., and other utility clients. During the 1990s, he also provided significant counsel to U.S. companies on reorganizations, business growth initiatives, preparing for deregulation, and other industry changes.
McGehee was vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Committee of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
. He serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators, the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), Atlanta Center, Nuclear Energy Institute and the Edison Electric Institute. He is also a member of the Florida Council of 100.