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Anthony J. Topazi became Mississippi Power's tenth President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1 2004.
Previously Topazi was executive vice president at Southern Company Generation & Energy Marketing responsible for Southern Company's energy trading and wholesale marketing as well as its fuel services and generation planning and development departments. He also served as senior vice president of Southern Power which owns and manages new generation assets dedicated to the wholesale markets.
Topazi began his career with Alabama Power in 1969 as a cooperative education student engineer. He held a number of positions at Alabama Power including Western Division Vice President and Birmingham Division Vice President. While at the Western Division he served as chairman of the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority and had a primary role in recruiting the first Mercedes Benz automotive assembly plant outside of Germany to the state of Alabama.
Topazi is chairman of Momentum Mississippi a public-private partnership appointed by the Governor to enhance the State's economic development future. He previously served on the steering committee of Blueprint Mississippi and co-chaired its economic development work group. He serves as chairman of the Gulf Coast Business Council. Topazi is a member of the Mississippi Economic Council's board of directors and vice chairman of the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development. Topazi is a member of the United Way deTocqueville Society and serves on the board of directors for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. He also serves on the board of directors for Hancock Bank Infinity Science Center Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and on the board of trustees for the Nature Conservancy of Mississippi. Topazi previously served as vice chairman of the Governor's Commission on Recovery Rebuilding and Renewal.
A Birmingham native Topazi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and also completed the advanced management program at Harvard University. He is a member of the Engineering Council at Auburn University. | 