Board of Directors

Members of CCA's Board of Directors provide steady direction and a sound strategy for the company.

With decades of combined business and leadership experience, CCA's Board of Directors guide and support the vision of our organization. They ensure accountability and instill governance. Together, the CCA Board works with management to drive our leadership in making prudent, ethical decisions that benefit and protect all those we serve.

John D. Ferguson, Chairman of the Board

John Ferguson began serving as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in July 2008 after serving as President and CEO of Corrections Corporation of America since August 2000. He joined the company following a 33-year business career that includes extensive experience in finance, entrepreneurial ventures, corporate turnarounds and government experience. Most recently, he served as the Commissioner of Finance and Administration for the state of Tennessee for four years. Just four years after graduating from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting, he co-founded Econocom in 1971, a computer sales and leasing company, which he operated for 10 years. In 1973, Mr. Ferguson helped found a bank, assisted in the organization of the board of directors and served as a director of the bank. In 1982, he founded a merger and acquisitions firm and served as CEO until 1993. He continued to serve on the board of the bank, serving as Chairman and CEO from 1990 until 1995.

Donna M. Alvarado

Donna M. Alvarado was elected to the Company’s Board of Directors in December 2003 as an independent director. Ms. Alvarado is the founder and managing director of Aguila International. Aguila is an international business-consulting firm, specializing in human resources and leadership development, that provides a consortium for businesses and non-profit organizations seeking to collaborate in the western hemisphere. Ms. Alvarado has held senior management positions in government, in addition to her established career in the private business sector. She has served as deputy assistant secretary of defense, U.S. Department of Defense; counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy; and staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control.

Ms. Alvarado also was appointed by President Reagan and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of ACTION, the federal domestic volunteer agency, where she directed the activities of nearly 500,000 Americans serving as volunteers, leading 500 employees and managing a $170 million budget. Ms. Alvarado currently serves as a Regent on the Ohio Board of Regents, serves as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and the Economy, and Vice Chair of the Governor’s Workforce Policy Board in Ohio. Ms. Alvarado earned her postgraduate certificate in Financial Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, completed doctoral coursework on Latin American Literature from the University of Oklahoma, and earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Spanish from Ohio State University.

John D. Correnti

— In Memoriam —

John Correnti served as a director and member of CCA's Audit & Risk Committee since December 2000 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Steel Development Company, LLC. Previously, Correnti served as Chairman and CEO of Birmingham Steel Corporation from December 1999 until its sale to Nucor Corporation in December 2002. Correnti served as president, CEO and vice chairman of Nucor Corporation, a mini mill manufacturer of steel products, from 1996 to 1999 and as its president and CEO from 1991 to 1996. Correnti also serves as director of Navistar International Corporation. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Clarkson University.

Robert J. Dennis

Robert J. Dennis joined CCA as a director in 2013. Dennis is chairman, president and CEO of Genesco. Headquartered in Nashville, Genesco is a specialty retailer, with nearly 2,500 retail stores that sell footwear, headwear and sports apparel. With nearly 30 years of business experience, Bob previously held leadership positions with Asbury Automotive and with an international consulting firm. He holds a master's in business administration from the Harvard Business School and a master's degree from Rennselear Polytechnic Institute. Bob served as a director of Teavana Holdings, Inc. from July 2011 until its acquisition by Starbucks in December 2012. He currently serves on the board of several Nashville-area non-profit agencies.

Mark A. Emkes

Mark A. Emkes joined the CCA Board of Directors in 2014. In 2013, Emkes retired from his position of Commissioner of Finance and Administration for the State of Tennessee, appointed by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Previously, Emkes had served as Chairman and CEO of Bridgestone Americas Holdings, Inc., in 2010, where he was concurrently serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bridgestone Corporation. He has nearly four decades of leadership experience serving a large international manufacturing, distribution and sales organization.  He began his career in 1975 at Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and progressed throughout the Bridgestone Firestone companies.  He is a member of CEOs Against Cancer, Tennessee Chapter, and currently serves on the boards of Greif, Inc., First Horizon National Corporation and Clarcor, Inc. In 2011, Emkes was the recipient of the Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise Award and was inducted into the Nashville Business Hall of Fame in October 2012. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Indiana's DePauw University and a master's degree in business administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, located in Glendale, Ariz.

Damon T. Hininger

Damon Hininger has served as a director since August 2009. Hininger was named President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2009, having previously been appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer in July 2008. Damon served as Senior Vice President of Federal and Local Customer Relations since September 2007 after having served as Vice President of Federal and Local Customer Relations since June 2002. Hininger previously served CCA as Vice President, Business Analysis since December 2000. He has also served the company as Director, Strategic Planning and Director Proposal Development.

Hininger joined the company in 1992 as a correctional officer at Leavenworth Detention Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, and was promoted to Training Manager at Central Arizona Detention Center in 1994. That same year, Hininger was also selected as both Central Arizona Detention Center's and CCA's company-wide Employee of the Year. He joined the corporate office in 1995, serving as Manager, Facility Start Up for three years. Hininger earned a bachelor of science degree from Kansas State University and a master's in business administration from the Jack Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University in Nashville.

C. Michael Jacobi

C. Michael Jacobi has served as a director since December 2000. Mr. Jacobi served from June 2001 to May 2005 as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Katy Industries, Inc., a public company headquartered in Middlebury, Connecticut engaged in the design, manufacture and distribution of maintenance and electrical products. Mr. Jacobi served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Timex Corporation from 1993 to 1999 and as a member of the board of directors from 1992 to 2000. Prior to his election as President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jacobi served Timex in senior positions in marketing, sales, finance and manufacturing. Mr. Jacobi is also a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee of Webster Financial Corporation, a publicly held bank (NYSE) with $18 billion of assets headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut and is a member of the board of directors of Invisible Technologies, Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Garrett, Ind., engaged in the design, manufacture and distribution of electronic training products for sporting dogs and pets.

He has also served as Chairman of Timex Watches Limited (India), a publicly held company headquartered in New Delhi, India; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beepwear Paging Products, a private company jointly owned by Timex and Motorola; Chairman of Callanen International, a private company engaged in the fashion watch industry, a member of the board of directors of Quatro / Cinco Limited, a private holding company headquartered in Oslo, Norway with interest in shipping, hotels, shipbuilding, newspapers, consumer products and the oil services industry and Hometown Auto Retailer, a public company headquartered in Watertown, Connecticut engaged in retail sales of new and used automobiles. Mr. Jacobi holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Anne L. Mariucci

Anne L. Mariucci joined the Board of Directors in 2011. Mariucci spent the majority of her career in the large-scale community development and home building business. She was employed by Del Webb Corporation from 1984-2003 and served in a variety of senior management capacities, including serving as President following its merger with Pulte Homes Inc., which created the nation's largest homebuilding company. Since 2003, Mariucci has been affiliated with the private equity firms Hawkeye Partners (Austin, Texas), Inlign Capital Partners (Phoenix, Arizona), and Glencoe Capital (Chicago, Illinois). Mariucci received her undergraduate degree in accounting and finance from the University of Arizona and completed the corporate finance program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She presently serves on the Arizona Board of Regents, and is its immediate past-chairman. She also serves as a director of Southwest Gas Company, Scottsdale Healthcare, Arizona State University Foundation, and the Fresh Start Women's Foundation. She is a past director of the Arizona State Retirement System and Action Performance Companies, as well as a past Trustee of the Urban Land Institute.

Thurgood Marshall, Jr.

Thurgood Marshall has served as a director and member of the Nominating and Governance Committee since December 2002. Marshall is a partner in the law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP in Washington D.C., and a principal in Bingham Consulting Group LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bingham McCutchen LLP that assists business clients with communications, political and legal strategies. Marshall, the son of the historic Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, has held appointments in each branch of the federal government, including Cabinet Secretary to President Clinton and Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel to Vice President Al Gore. In his role under President Clinton, Marshall was the chief liaison between the President and the agencies of the Executive Branch. He serves on the American Bar Association Election Law Committee and serves as a board member of the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, the National Womens Law Center and the Supreme Court Historical Society, and serves on the Ethics Oversight Committee of the United States Olympic Committee. Marshall earned a bachelor's degree in 1978 and a juris doctor degree in 1981 from the University of Virginia, after which he clerked for United States District Judge Barrington D. Parker.

Charles L. Overby

Charles Overby has served as a director since December 2001. Overby is chairman and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, an independent, non-partisan foundation dedicated to First Amendment and media issues. Overby also is chairman and CEO of an affiliate organization: The Newseum, a state-of-the-art museum of news in Arlington, VA. Overby is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning editor in Jackson, Miss. He worked for 16 years as reporter, editor and corporate executive for Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company. He was vice president for news and communications for Gannett and served on the management committees of Gannett and USA TODAY. As a reporter, he covered the White House, presidential campaigns, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was named president and chief executive officer of the Gannett Foundation in 1989. The foundation was renamed The Freedom Forum in 1991. He became chairman as well as CEO in 1997. Overby has served two stints in government: He was press assistant to Sen. John Stennis, D-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and special assistant for administration to Gov. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

John R. Prann, Jr.

John Prann, Jr. has served as a director since December 2001. Prann served from 1993 to 2001 as president and CEO of Katy Industries, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer and distributor of consumer electric corded products and maintenance cleaning products. From 1991 to 1995, he was president and CEO of CRL, Inc., an equity and real estate development company, which held a 25% interest in Katy. A former partner with the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, Mr. Prann serves on the boards of several institutions including Dynojet Research, Inc., Student Leadership Institute and Cardinal Cushing School and is an advocate of education and youth issues. A 1974 graduate of the University of California, Riverside, Prann obtained his master's in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1979.

Joseph V. Russell

Joseph Russell has served as a director since 1999. Prior to CCA's 1999 merger with Prison Realty Trust, Russell served as an independent trustee for old Prison Realty. He is president and CFO of Elan-Polo, Inc., a Nashville-based, privately-held, world-wide producer and distributor of footwear. Russell is also vice president in RCR Building Corporation, a Nashville-based, privately-held builder and developer of commercial and industrial properties. He also serves on the boards of Community Care Corporation and the Footwear Distributors of America Association. Russell graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in finance.