BofA board no longer has its Tar Heel feel.

• Position: Charlotte

Ken Lewis isn't just the embattled chief executive of Bank of America Corp., he's the last of a breed: a BofA director with North Carolina ties. Not long ago, the board of the Charlotte-based bank had a healthy representation from its home state. When Lewis became CEO in 2001, seven of 17 directors lived or worked in North Carolina.

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The Tar Heel influence waned as the bank's assets waxed. A year ago, its proxy listed four North Carolinians on the 16-person board. Between April 1 and June 10, three resigned or retired, whittling the contingent down to Lewis, a Mississippi native whose Tar Heel roots run only as deep as his time with the bank--much of it spent working in other states. "Bank of America is now a global company," spokesman Scott Silvestri says, "and as such, it's got directors from a wide geographical area."

Many have strong ties to the Northeast. After BofA bought FleetBoston Financial Corp. in 2004, seven of its directors were added to the board, giving it 19. Six remain on what is now an 18-director board, including former CEO Charles Gifford. The pre-Fleet BofA contingent has dwindled to two: Lewis and Walter Massey, former president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. Massey took over as chairman after a shareholder revolt stripped Lewis of the title at the annual meeting April 29. Massey joined the board when BofA, then NationsBank, bought San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corp. in 1998.

"The bulk of the political power resides...