E. Linn Draper Jr.

A former chairman, CEO and president of Ohio-based public utility holding company American Electric Power Company. He became the company's leader just as energy deregulation took place, and he led a merger with another major public utility holding company (Central & South West Corp.), reassured investors of the company's strength in the wake of the Enron scandal and kept the company afloat through the recession of 2001-2002.

Born in 1942 in Houston, Draper Jr. earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1970. He then taught at the University of Texas until 1979, when he joined Gulf States Utilities and worked his way into senior management. In 1987 he joined American Electric. He became its president and COO in 1992 and its chairman, CEO and president in 1993. He stepped down as president and CEO at the end of 2003 and retired from his position as chairman in early 2004.