Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> June 16, 1999
THOMAS M. MATTHEWS is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer for Avista Corp. Effective July 1, 1998, he joined the company
and is only the fourth person to serve as Avista Corp.'s board chairman
since the company emerged from holding company control in the early
1950s. Prior to joining Avista Corp., Mr. Matthews served as the
president of Houston-based Dynegy, formerly NGC Corporation. He was
responsible for oversight of Dynegy's worldwide operations: its gas
liquids and gas pipeline subsidiary, the company's international
division; the company's power division; and the corporate merger and
acquisition, legal, regulatory, and information technology functions.
Mr. Matthews previously held the position of vice president of Texaco,
Inc., president of Texaco's Global Gas and Power Division, and president
and chief executive officer of Texaco Natural Gas, where he was
responsible for worldwide power, natural gas processing, gas liquids,
gas pipelines and gas sales and marketing operations. Prior to joining
Texaco, he spent eight years with Tenneco as president of Tennessee Gas
Pipeline Company and executive vice president of Tenneco Gas. He also
spent 16 years with Exxon in various domestic and international
engineering, management and executive positions. Mr. Matthews received
his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M
University in 1965. He has completed postgraduate training in petroleum
and natural gas engineering at the University of Oklahoma and executive
business training at Stanford and Columbia Universities. Mr. Matthews
serves on boards of a number of organizations, including the Advisory
Council for the Texas A&M University and Texas A&M Vision 2020
Committee. Profile
history, products, services, customers, those kinds of things?
Mr. Matthews: Avista is a 110-year-old traditional utility
