Jack King

Jack King
BSEE 1962, MSEE 1963
President and CEO (retired), Oglethorpe Power Corporation
Senior  Vice-President (retired), Entergy Corporation
Lampe, MO

Jack King began his career at Arkansas Power and Light, and worked his way up to chief operating officer. In 1986, he moved to Louisiana to work for AP & L’s parent company, Entergy. As senior vice president of operations at Entergy, Jack supervised a four-state area and served on the board of directors of Arkansas Power and Light, Louisiana Power and Light, Mississippi Power and Light and New Orleans Public Service, as well as other subsidiary companies.  While there, he attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Course.

During the nineties, Jack became interested in broadband communications. As an advocate for this new technology, Jack made hundreds of speeches and presentations and authored articles promoting the use of broadband and the Internet as a way to save energy and improve communications. He testified before Congress about this issue and was featured in the national media.

This involvement in communications led to Jack’s second career, as president of control systems for Scientific Atlanta, a satellite communications company later acquired by Cisco Systems. While working for Scientific Atlanta, he served on the board of directors for the Electric Cooperatives of Georgia and was asked to become CEO of Oglethorpe Power Corporation of Georgia, one of the nation’s largest power supply cooperatives, as well as two other cooperative companies, Georgia Transmission Company and Georgia Systems Operations Company. Jack retired in 2001, but continues to serve on the board of directors of the Western Electric Coordinating Council. 

Supporting his alma mater has always been important to Jack, who wants to make sure other students have the opportunities he had. He is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Electrical Engineering, The College of Engineering dean’s advisory council, the National Development Council, the Chancellor’s Society and he is a Tower of Old Main.  He has also been recognized with a University of Arkansas Volunteer of the Year award. In 1994, Jack gave the College of Engineering commencement address.  Jack also supports  scholarships at the College of Engineering and Arkansas Tech University.

Jack was also part of a group that was instrumental in raising thirteen million dollars to equip the Bell Engineering Center, an unheard of accomplishment at the time. His efforts helped create a foundation for the current University of Arkansas development efforts.

Jack also serves his community, as a member of the trustee board and the foundation board of his local hospital. In 2012, he received the annual Community Service Award from the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce for his work on a number of community projects including locating ambulance service in his community.