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Executive Vice President,
River System Operations & Environment
Environmental Executive

Kathryn J. “Kate” Jackson is the Executive Vice President of River System Operations & Environment and the Environmental Executive at TVA. She is responsible for the operation of TVA’s integrated river management system, which includes extensive facilities for hydroelectric power production, flood control, and navigation, as well as watershed management, public lands, water quality, water supply, recreation, and wildlife protection throughout TVA’s seven state service area. Her other duties include oversight of TVA’s research and development investments and management of environmental policy, strategy, and regulatory affairs.

Before joining TVA in 1991, Jackson completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, D.C. She previously held positions with Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Alcoa Industries as a design engineer, project/marketing engineer, and technology forecaster.

Jackson chairs the board of directors of the Joint Institute for Energy and Environment, and serves on advisory boards of the Sloan Foundation/Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Engineering. She is a member of the President’s National Science and Technology Council and served as a presidential appointee to the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission.

In 1999 Jackson received the Upward Mobility Award from the Society of Women Engineers, and in 1996 she received the Arthur S. Flemming Award for excellence in public service.

Jackson earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University. She also holds an M.S. in industrial engineering management from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. in physics from Grove City College.