Dennis Alden Yao (born August 29, 1953) is an American academic who served as a member of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

(FTC) from 1991 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Yao was the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

to serve on the FTC and the third career economist to serve on the body, which has generally been composed of attorneys. Yao is currently the Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the

Doctoral Programs A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Early life and education

Dennis Alden Yao was born on August 29, 1953, in Urbana,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In 1975, he received his undergraduate (B.S.E.) degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. Yao went on to receive his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(M.B.A.) degree from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1977. After working in the private sector as a product planner for

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, Yao would receive his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics from the

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Graduate School of Business in 1985.

Career

Academic career

From 1983 to 1991, Yao served in various academic capacities within the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. At Wharton, he developed and taught a class that focused on strategies for competition within an

oligopolistic An oligopoly () is a market in which pricing control lies in the hands of a few sellers. As a result of their significant market power, firms in oligopolistic markets can influence prices through manipulating the supply function. Firms in a ...

framework called “Competitive Strategy and Industrial Structure.”

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

While serving as an associate professor at the Wharton's department of public policy and management, Yao was chosen by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

to replace Andrew Strenio on the

(FTC). Yao was the third career economist to serve on the FTC, an agency generally composed of attorneys, after

James C. Miller III James Clifford Miller III (born June 25, 1942, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American economist and former government official who served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) between 1981 and 1985 and as Budget Director for President ...

and George W. Douglas. During his tenure on the FTC, Yao was among the members favorable to bringing action against

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, which at the time was the subject of antitrust scrutiny. During a meeting between members of the FTC and Microsoft corporate leadership, the "soft-spoken" Yao reportedly upset

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

by "float nga line of hypothetical questions suggesting possible curbs on Microsoft’s growing monopoly power". As a result:

"Gates was vexed. "He started by calling Yao’s ideas socialistic," recalls a source familiar with the July 15 meeting, "and as he got angrier and angrier and louder and louder, he got into calling them Communistic."

Following the inauguration of Bill Clinton as President of the United States in 1993, Yao was briefly considered for the role of FTC Chair. However, after serving three years of a seven-year term, Yao chose to resign from the FTC on September 1, 1994, in order to return to teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1994, he was replaced as a member of the FTC by Christine Varney.

Career post-FTC

Yao currently serves as a Professor of Business Administration at

. In 2018, he was a contributor to

Daniel Koh Daniel Arrigg Koh (born January 1, 1985) is an American politician. Koh was Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Career Koh served as Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor ...

's congressional candidacy in Massachusetts's 3rd district.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Dennis Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission personnel Princeton University alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Harvard Business School faculty Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania faculty 1953 births Living people