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EDUCATION ENERGY
Oliver Yao
University of Delaware,
Alfred Lerner College of
Business and Economics
Oliver Yao took over leadership at
the University of Delaware’s Lerner
College at the end of the 2022-23
academic year, and said he was seeking
to increase innovation in the college’s
programs and proactively prepare
students and the college for the
impacts of artifi cial intelligence and
other digital technologies. Yao arrived
at the university after two decades at
Lehigh University in Pennsylvania,
where he served in multiple faculty
and administrative appointments.
Next, Yao told the school he wants to
continue plans for Lerner’s fi nancial
future, and one way to do that is
increasing graduate enrollment. He
plans to achieve that by launching new
programs, and to make co-curricular
programs stronger.
Rob Book
Delaware Electric
Cooperative
A lifelong Delawarean, Rob Book was
named the president and CEO of the
Delaware Electric Cooperative in
November 2022. In the top job, he is
tasked with leading the utility co-op
that serves 112,000 homes, farms
and businesses in Kent and Sussex
counties, as well as 175 employees.
Before being named CEO, Book
worked his way up from coordinator
of informational services back in 2001
to senior vice president of member
services. He was instrumental in
launching the cooperative’s Beat
the Peak program, which has saved
members more than $38 million
since it started in 2008. Since 2023,
the Beat the Peak program has been
modernized with a smartphone app.
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