News Room
OPPD President and CEO W. Gary Gates Elected to Mutual of Omaha Board of Directors
OMAHA, Neb. – (March 12, 2007) W. Gary Gates, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), has been elected to the Mutual of Omaha Board of Directors, Mutual Chairman and CEO Dan Neary announced.
Gates joined OPPD in 1972 and held a variety of positions before being named president and CEO in 2004.
“Gary Gates has a great deal of experience and expertise in managing a large, complex organization within a highly regulated industry. He will add a valuable dimension to the Mutual of Omaha Board of Directors,” Neary said. “We will rely on his perspective, as well as that of our other distinguished board members, as we work to achieve our objectives in an increasingly competitive and highly regulated environment.”
Two years after joining OPPD, Gates joined the staff at the Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant and held several positions within the utility’s nuclear organization including reactor engineer, supervisor-operations and manager of the Fort Calhoun Station. In 1989 he was named executive assistant to the president and in 1990 he became division manager-Nuclear Operations. Gates was promoted to vice president with responsibility for OPPD’s nuclear organization in 1992.
Gates has served on the boards of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the Edison Electric Institute and the American Nuclear Society. His community board service includes the AkSarBen Foundation Governor’s Council, United Way of the Midlands, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Creighton University, Durham Western Heritage Museum, Methodist Hospital, Joslyn Art Museum, Wings Over the Heartland and River City Roundup.
Gates holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master’s degree in business administration from Creighton University.