Kurt Yeager

 Yeager joined the Galvin Electricity Initiative, an effort to perfect the electric power system, shortly after it was launched by former Motorola chief Bob Galvin.

As leader of the Galvin Initiative, Yeager is expanding the reach of that vision, working with electricity experts, innovators and entrepreneurs to design and build prototypes of a smart, efficient electric power system that cannot fail the consumer.

Yeager retired as the president and chief executive officer of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in 2004. Under his leadership, EPRI evolved from a nonprofit industry think tank to a family of companies that undertake both proprietary and collaborative research and development for the electric power industry in the United States and 40 other countries. During that time he also guided an industry-wide collaborative effort to address challenges and plan for the future of electric power. “The Electricity Technology Roadmap,” and the “Electricity Sector Framework of the Future,” have since become the foundation of utility industry progress.

Yeager joined EPRI in 1974, a year after its founding, and became the organization’s president and chief executive officer in 1996.

Before joining EPRI, Yeager was director of energy research and development planning for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research. Prior to working for EPA he was the associate head of the environmental systems department at MITRE Corporation, a private, nonprofit corporation providing engineering and technical services to the federal government.

Yeager served seven years active duty in the U.S. Air Force and is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Nuclear Research Officer’s Program. He received a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College and completed post-graduate studies in chemistry and physics at Ohio State and the University of California, Davis.  He has also completed post-graduate management programs at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance.

Yeager is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and its Industry Advisory Board, and a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. He has served on the executive board of the National Coal Council and the boards of the U.S. Energy Association, and the National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) as well as several National Academy of Engineering committees and the Energy Research Advisory Board to the Secretary of Energy.  He currently serves on the board of APX Corporation. Yeager was named the 2003 Technology Policy Leader for Energy by Scientific American. He has authored more than 200 technical publications on energy and environmental topics and chairs the World Energy Council Study on energy and climate change.