Lynn Evans made more history than she realized when she took TVA’s gavel.

When her colleagues on the TVA Board of Directors elected her at the outset of 2017 to succeed outgoing Chairman Joe Ritch, Evans knew she was the first African-American to so serve.

“What I didn’t realize at the time,” she said, “was that I was the first female as well.

“I was honored that my fellow directors had a level of confidence in my ability to serve in that capacity. I’m truly honored to be included on a list with such distinguished individuals as those who served [as chair] before me,” Evans said.

Because her term on the TVA board technically ended on May 18, Evans’ turn in the chair was brief (she may remain on the board until Congress adjourns for the year or until her successor is seated, whichever comes first, but was precluded from continuing as chair past May 18).

She passed the gavel to Mississippian Richard Howorth, who is scheduled to debut as chair at TVA’s Aug. 23 board meeting in Knoxville, TN.

Howorth was quick to pay tribute to his predecessor.

“All the people on the list Lynn mentioned,” he said, “would be proud that she’s on it.”

Evans owns Lynn Evans CPA, a certified accounting/consulting firm she launched in 1983. She served on the Memphis, TN, LG & W Board of Directors from 2004 to 2013 and chaired that board in 2008 and 2009. She presently serves on the boards of First Alliance Bank and the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation.

Howorth is a former two-term mayor of Oxford, MS. In that capacity, he chaired the Oxford ED Board of Directors.

The founder/owner of Square Books, a leading independent bookstore in Oxford, Howorth served eight years as a director and officer of the North Mississippi Industrial Development Association.