MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A Middle Tennessee State University alumna is among President Joe Biden's new group of nominees to fill one of four open seats on the Tennessee Valley Authority's board of directors.
Beth Prichard Geer of Brentwood, Tennessee, the longtime chief of staff for former Vice President Al Gore and a graduate of what's now the MTSU College of Media and Entertainment, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a still-to-be-scheduled hearing.
The TVA, a federal agency that provides electricity to 10 million customers across Tennessee and portions of six other states, has a nine-member board appointed by the U.S. president. Two of the nominees, including Geer, would fill seats left open by board members whose terms expired May 18; two are vacancies created by the previous administration ousting the members.
Geer is the second MTSU-connected TVA board appointee in as many years. Former state Rep. Beth Harwell, MTSU’s Distinguished Visiting Professor in political science, was sworn in as a new TVA board member Jan. 5.
Geer, an Alexandria, Tennessee, native, earned her bachelor’s degree from MTSU in 1987, concentrating on advertising and public relations in what was then the Department of Mass Communication. She’s also earned a Public Leadership Executive Certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Managers in Government program.
In the official White House announcement of her appointment last month, officials noted that Geer’s long career in public service, with senior roles in the Clinton-Gore White House, U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Senate, has given her extensive policy and outreach experience on issues that include climate change, environmental justice and regenerative agriculture.
Geer also is a member of Nashville Mayor John Cooper's Sustainability Advisory Committee, which is helping address climate change and alternative energy issues in Metro government and develop a climate action plan for the city.
Geer’s three fellow TVA board nominees are Robert Klein, a retired line foreman for the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga; Kimberly Lewis, CEO of Huntsville, Alabama, engineering and logistics company PROJECTSYZ; and Michelle Moore of Richmond, Virginia, former leader of the sustainability and infrastructure delivery teams for the Obama Administration and current CEO of Groundswell, a clean energy nonprofit.
The Senate has received Geer and the other candidates’ nominations and has referred them to its Committee on Environment and Public Works, which handles TVA board appointments. No hearing dates or additional action are scheduled so far.
If confirmed, Geer’s term on the board will continue until May 18, 2026. She’ll be replacing outgoing former coal company executive Kenneth Allen.
To learn more about the advertising and public relations programs in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media in MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment, visit https://www.mtsu.edu/programs/advertising and https://www.mtsu.edu/programs/public-relations, respectively.
