Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> June 14, 2000
DR. E. LINN DRAPER, JR. is Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of American Electric Power Company Inc. He is Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Electric Power
Service Corp., the management and technology arm of the AEP System. He
became President of AEP and the Service Corporation in March 1992,
following 13 years with Gulf States Utilities Co. in Beaumont, Texas,
where he served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He
became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of AEP in May
1993. Dr. Draper is President of Ohio Valley Electric Corporation and
its subsidiary, Indiana-Kentucky Electric Corporation. He joined Gulf
States Utilities in 1979 as Technical Assistant to the Chairman of the
Board, then became Vice President of Nuclear Technology in 1980 and
Senior Vice President - Engineering and Technical Services in 1981. In
1982, he was elected Senior Vice President - External Affairs, then was
elevated to Executive Vice President - External Affairs and Production
in 1985. He was named Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President later
in 1985, and became Vice Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer
in 1986. Later the same year, he became Vice Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer, and in 1987 he was elected Chairman, President
and Chief Executive Officer. Before joining Gulf States Utilities, Dr.
Draper served on the faculty and administration at the University of
Texas in Austin, where he had been an Associate Professor and director
of the Nuclear Engineering Program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree
and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice
University in Houston, and a Doctorate in Nuclear Science and
Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He is a Registered
Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. In February 1992, Dr.
Draper was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He
is a member of the Board of Directors of CellNet Data Systems Inc. and
Borden Chemicals and Plastics. He was elected to the Cornell University
Council Board in July 1998, appointed to the University of Chicago Board
of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory in 1999, and serves on the
University of Texas Engineering Foundation Council. He is a member of
the Boards of Directors of the Nuclear Energy Institute (past Chairman),
the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (past Chairman), the National
Coal Council (past Chairman), and the Edison Electric Institute (past
Chairman). He was appointed to the President's Council on Sustainable
Development, which was comprised of government, business, labor and
environmental leaders that recommend a national economic strategy to
protect the environment. He has served as past Chairman for Electric
Power Research Institute and past Chairman of the Utility Nuclear Waste
Management Group, a consortium of 43 electric utilities. He is a Past
President and a former member of the Board of Directors of the American
Nuclear Society. Dr. Draper has edited books on nuclear power and the
engineering aspects of fusion reactors and has written many major
technical papers. He has been a frequent speaker on behalf of the
industry. Dr. Draper received Energy Daily's annual Individual
Leadership Award in October 1997. Profile
American Electric Power?
Dr. Draper: We are, by many measures, about the second largest of the
investor-owned utilities in the
