Cynthia Yao

Cynthia Yao (1940-) is the founder and former executive director of the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.

Early life Yao was born in Kingston, Jamaica to parents who immigrated from China. She attended Emmanuel College in Boston, where she met her future husband, Edward York-Peng Yao. In 1979 she earned a Master of Museum Practice from the University of Michigan. She and fellow volunteers worked to transform the city's former fire station into the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, which opened in 1982.

Awards Yao was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.