Southern Company today announced the election of Larry D. Thompson to its board of directors, effective Dec. 1, 2014. Thompson is the executive vice president of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary of PepsiCo, Inc. until his retirement, effective at the end of the year. He previously served on the Southern Company board of directors from 2010 to 2012. 

"Larry is a dynamic addition to Southern Company's board of directors and we are glad to welcome him back," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "His leadership in the public and private sectors has served us well, and we will once again benefit from his experienced counsel."

Thompson assumed his current position with PepsiCo, Inc. in July 2012, with responsibility for the company's worldwide legal function and government affairs and public policy organizations. He also oversees the company's global compliance function and the PepsiCo, Inc. Foundation. From 2004 to 2011, Thompson served as PepsiCo, Inc.'s senior vice president of government affairs, general counsel and secretary. 

Earlier in his career, Thompson was a senior fellow with The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C.He has served in the U.S. Department of Justice as deputy attorney general and led the department's National Security Coordination Council. In 2002, President George W. Bush named Thompson to head the Corporate Fraud Task Force, where he led the Justice Department's investigation into Enron.

Before initially joining PepsiCo, Inc. in 2004, Thompson had a broad-ranging legal career, including serving as a litigator at the Atlanta, Georgialaw firm of King & Spalding LLP – where he was named partner in 1986; chairing the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control; being named an independent counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; serving as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; and acting as a member of the attorney general's Economic Crime Council. 

Thompson is the recipient of the Edmund Jennings Randolph Award for outstanding contributions to the accomplishment of the Department of Justice's mission, the Outstanding Litigator Award from the Federal Bar Association and the A.T. Walden Award for outstanding accomplishments in the legal profession from the Gate City Bar Association, the oldest African-American bar association in Georgia.

A member of the board of directors for the Graham Holdings Company and various Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series Funds, Thompson is also an elected Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. 

Thompson earned a bachelor's degree from Culver-Stockton College, a Master of Arts from Michigan State University and a juris doctor from the University of Michigan.