John Cornelius (’01)
2024 Alumni Award Winner – Marvin Pittman Award
In January 2022, John was elected to the role of Vice President, Power Delivery at Georgia Power Company. In this role, John is responsible for leading a 2,700-member team of engineers, line workers, support personnel, and leadership, working directly with 2.7M electric customers across the State of Georgia. This team is responsible for 24/7 engineering, construction, maintenance, and operations activities across 43 operating headquarters.
John started his career with Georgia Power in 2001 in Augusta where he worked as a substation test engineer, responsible for the commissioning and routine testing of Power Transmission and Distribution substations for several years. He later became a Distribution Engineer in metropolitan Atlanta where he designed, estimated and operated power systems to serve customers in the area.
John has held leadership positions in Georgia Power as a Transmission System Operations team leader and supervisor, Transmission Maintenance Center supervisor, Distribution Engineering supervisor, project manager to the Distribution General Managers, assistant to the Distribution vice president, area manager for Cartersville, Emerson, Euharlee, Rydal, Taylorsville, and White, distribution manager in the Atlanta Distribution area, assistant to the Customer Service & Operations (CSO) executive vice president where he assisted the CSO executive leadership team with a variety of strategic projects within Customer Service, Power Delivery, Corporate Services, Sales & Marketing, Pricing & Planning, and Region External Affairs. John also served as Power Delivery System Performance general manager responsible for Planning & Policy, Project Management, Storm Center Operations, and Systems & Standards across the State of Georgia. Prior to his current role, John was the Atlanta Metro South Regional Director.
John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering technology from Georgia Southern University (2001) and a master’s degree in business administration from Mercer University (2007). He is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) with the State of Georgia. John also completed the McKinsey & Company Executive Leadership Academy (2021) and the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management’s The Strategy of Leadership executive education course (2023).
John currently serves on the boards of Atlanta Technical College and Georgia Southern University’s Athletic Foundation, the Scholarship Committee for the Lawrenceville-Duluth Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, and the Georgia Southern University’s College of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professional Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta Chapter focused on enhancing educational and economic opportunities for Atlanta youth.
John is a native of Macon, GA. He is married to Kalesha, Georgia Southern University Alumni Class of 2003, and they are the proud parents of adult twin daughters, Jayla and Kaylee who are practicing civil and electrical engineers, respectively. His hobbies include golfing, photography, and volunteering in support of community youth and educational initiatives.