A Decatur native tapped by President Donald Trump to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors was formally sworn in Friday.

James “Skip” Thompson was sworn in by U.S. District Senior Judge C. Lynwood Smith, Jr., of the Northern District of Alabama at a ceremony in Huntsville. His term will expire on May 18.

Thompson was nominated on Sept. 21, 2017, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21.

“Having grown up in Decatur in the shadow of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, I’ve always been impressed by the continued importance of TVA’s mission of energy, environmental stewardship and economic development,” said Thompson. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to do my part to serve the people of the Tennessee Valley as a board member.”

Thompson, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, serves as the president and CEO of Corporate Billing LLC. The company is a subsidiary of Birmingham-based National Bank of Commerce. He previously served as the president and CEO of First American Bank in Decatur and as president and CEO of First Commercial Bank of Huntsville.

He is one of four newly confirmed appointees to the TVA board of directors along with Jeff W. Smith of Knoxville, Tennessee, Kenneth Allen of White Plains, Kentucky, and A.D. Frazier of Mineral Bluff, Georgia. They will join current TVA Chair Richard Howorth of Oxford, Mississippi, and directors Virginia Lodge of Nashville, Eric Satz of Nashville and Ronald Walter of Memphis.

One additional vacancy remains on the nine-member board, which next meets Feb. 16 in Chattanooga.