Paragon Offshore plc (fka PGNPQ)

[Justin]

Progress CEO McGehee dies after stroke
Tuesday October 9, 11:08 am ET

Robert McGehee, CEO and chairman of Progress Energy, died Tuesday, two days after having a stroke while on a business trip in London.

The 64-year-old had surgery at Charing Cross Hospital, a leading neurosurgery center, but never regained consciousness.

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Chief Operating Officer William Johnson has assumed CEO duties, while John Mullin III, the company's lead director, has been named acting chairman.

Progress' board plans to meet Friday to discuss its succession plan. The company said it recently approved such a plan in light of McGehee's impending retirement, which could have happened as early as next spring.

"Bob McGehee's life and his tenure as our company's CEO and chairman have been cut painfully short, but the list of his contributions to Progress Energy, its customers, employees and shareholders was long and outstanding," said Mullin in a written statement.

"Bob was a rare person who combined vision and strength of character with a humble and generous spirit. Under Bob's leadership, the company has shaped a new strategic direction, while maintaining its tradition of operational excellence. We are all deeply saddened by his loss but are committed to sustaining the positive momentum that Bob created."

McGehee had worked at Progress since 1997, when it was still known as Carolina Power & Light. He rose from his starting position of general counsel to become chief operating officer in 2002, CEO in March 2004 and chairman of the board in May 2004.

Before joining Progress, the company said, McGehee was chairman of the board of Wise Carter Child & Caraway, a Jackson, Miss., law firm that provided counsel for a variety of electric utilities, including CP&L. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, McGehee served for a time as an engineer on a nuclear submarine.

Progress (NYSE: PGN - News) is the electric utility serving most of the Triangle. Measured by market capitalization - just over $12 billion - it is by far the largest publicly traded company based in the area. It employs more than 3,000 in the Triangle and about 10,500 people across the company.

Acting CEO Johnson, a graduate of the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been with Progress since 1992 and was previously a partner in Raleigh law firm Hunton & Williams. Mullin is chairman of Ridgeway Farm, a timber company in Virginia.

Published October 9, 2007 by the Triangle Business Journal