Thomas A. Fanning, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company, has been reappointed; Gerard R. Host, president and chief executive officer of Trustmark Corporation, has been reelected, and Elizabeth Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomin' Brands Inc., has been elected to the Atlanta Fed's board of directors. Their terms begin Jan. 1, 2016, and run through Dec. 31, 2018.

Fanning became president of Southern Company in August 2010 and assumed the additional responsibilities of chief executive officer and chairman in December 2010. He has worked for Southern Company for more than 30 years and has held 15 different positions in eight different business units, including numerous officer positions with a variety of Southern Company subsidiaries in the areas of finance, strategy, international business development and technology.

Fanning serves as vice chairman of the Edison Electric Institute. He is chair of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector to protect the electric grid from threats that could affect national security. He is a member of the international advisory board of the Atlantic Council and the Business Roundtable. He serves on the Georgia Tech College of Management advisory board and the board of trustees for the Georgia Tech Foundation. He also serves on the board of directors of the Vulcan Materials Company.

Fanning earned bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial management and was also awarded an honorary doctor of philosophy degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. His executive education includes programs at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Harvard University School of Business and the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

Host joined Trustmark in 1984 and has served as chief operating officer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, chairman of the board of Trustmark Financial Services Inc., executive vice president of the company's consumer services group and chief investment officer. Host has more than 38 years of experience in the financial services industry, with 31 years served at Trustmark and prior to that at First National Bank in Mobile, Ala.

Host is a past director of the New Orleans Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is a member of the American Bankers Association's Government Relations Council Administrative Committee. He also serves on the executive committee for the Mississippi governor's Mississippi Works initiative. He is past chairman of the board of governors of the Mississippi Economic Council and currently serves on its executive committee. He is a director and member of the executive committee of the Greater Jackson Chamber Board, member of the board and treasurer of the Mississippi Bankers Association and a member of the Mississippi Bankers Association's legislative committee. He is past chairman of Pulse-EFT Association/Discover Financial Services. He also served as chairman of the board of the Mississippi Museum of Art and is a former member of the museum's executive committee. Host is actively involved in many nonprofit organizations throughout the community.

Host received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of South Alabama in 1979. He graduated from the National School of Financial and Funds Management at the University of Illinois in 1982 and the Graduate School of Financial and Funds Management at the University of Oklahoma in 1983. He also received the Graduate Certificate from the LSU School of Banking. He is a 2002 graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Smith joined Bloomin' Brands in 2009 and is responsible for developing and executing the company's long-term objectives, growth strategies and initiatives for its portfolio of casual and fine dining brands. Prior to joining Bloomin' Brands, she was president of Avon Products Inc. She also served in several roles at Kraft Foods Inc., including group vice president and president of the U.S. beverage and grocery sectors.

Smith's directorships include Hilton Worldwide Holding Inc., Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Tampa, Fla.).

Smith received her bachelor's degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Each of the nation's 12 Federal Reserve Banks has a nine-member board of directors. Three Class A directors are generally bankers and are elected by national and state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. Three Class B directors are also elected by these banks but represent commerce, industry, agriculture, labor and consumers. Three Class C directors represent the same broad array of public interests but are appointed by the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The Reserve Bank's chair and deputy chair must be Class C directors. Host is a Class A director, Smith is a Class B director and Fanning is a Class C director.

The board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta oversees the management of the bank's operations and recommends changes in the discount rate. Board members also contribute to the formulation of U.S. monetary policy through the economic information they provide the bank's president.