American Electric Board Elects Nicholas Akins Chairman

(RTTNews) - American Electric Power Co., Inc. (AEP) said Tuesday that its Board of Directors has elected the company's president and chief executive officer Nicholas Akins chairman of the board, effective January 1, 2014.

Akins, 53, was named AEP president in January 2011 and named chief executive officer in November 2011 following the retirement of Michael Morris, former chairman, president and chief executive officer. Morris will be stepping down as non-executive chair of the AEP board at the end of the year but plans to remain a member of the board until AEP's next annual meeting of shareholders in April 2014.

A career employee with AEP and the former Central and South West Corp., which merged with AEP in 2000, Akins has worked for the company for 31 years.