NASHVILLE (AP) - Corrections Corporation of America has named Mark Emkes, a former CEO of Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas, as the private prison operators' new chairman.

Emkes served as state finance commissioner during Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's first term. He succeeds John Ferguson, who also held the position of state finance commissioner from 1995 to 2000 in the Republican administration of then-Gov. Don Sundquist.

Emkes was recruited by what was then the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in 1976, and ended up spending 21 of his 33 years with the company abroad. He retired from Bridgestone in 2010.

Nashville-based CCA operates seven facilities in Tennessee.