Board Members and Alternates
Mr. Pete Johnson, Federal Co-Chairman
Pete Johnson of Clarksdale, Miss., was nominated in March 2001 by President Bush as the first federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority. Johnson was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in September 2001.
Johnson, an Alexandria, La., native, comes from a long line of public servants. Both his grandfather and his uncle served as governor of Mississippi. Johnson also served in statewide office as Mississippi's state auditor. In 1992, Johnson was appointed by the president to serve as the Mississippi director of the Farmers Home Administration. In that job, he coordinated one of the largest rural development programs in the country.
Prior to his current appointment, Johnson practiced law in Clarksdale.
Johnson received his bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1971 and his law degree from the Jackson School of Law (now the Mississippi College School of Law) in 1974. He joined the Bank of Clarksdale as a senior vice president after receiving his law degree. Johnson was recognized as one of Mississippi's top leaders by the Mississippi Economic Council. He also served as the president of the Young Bankers Section of the Mississippi Bankers Association. After leaving the banking profession, Johnson formed a financial planning firm. He was appointed by the governor of Mississippi in 1984 to chair the Mississippi Marketing Council.
Johnson has long been active in Delta civic affairs. He has served as president of the Clarksdale-Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce and as director of the Delta Council's Community and Industrial Development Board. In 1987, Johnson was awarded the Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner Award by the NAACP for his commitment to equal rights for all Americans. Johnson and his wife, Margaret, have two grown daughters.