Ronald Fortune, CEO
On October 18, 2006, Ronald Fortune became the CEO of
education.com. Previously, Dr. Fortune was the founder and CEO of
Edumetrics Learning, a company focused on developing technology-based
educational content for students, which eventually formed a
partnership with the EPGY program at Stanford University. He also
served for 10 years as CEO of Computer Curriculum Corporation
(CCC). During his tenure as CEO, CCC became the largest educational
software company in the United States.
Dr. Fortune has delivered numerous speeches, presentations, and testimonials to federal and state congressional committees, international educational leaders, educational associations, and governmental groups. He has served as a member of California's Information Technology Council, as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Software and Information Industry Association (formerly Software Publishers Association), and as President of the CEO Forum, a Washington, D.C,-based organization advocating the use of technology in schools. He has also served on the National Board for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education and on the Board of Directors for Edison Schools, Inc.
In addition to his duties as CEO of education.com, Dr. Fortune serves as a senior advisor to Project Pipeline, a nonprofit teacher recruitment and credentialing institute, and volunteers in various school and community functions.
A former secondary classroom teacher and school administrator,
Dr. Fortune holds a Ph.D. in Education, an M.B.A., and a B.A. in
History and Sociology, all from the University of California,
Berkeley.
Click here to view Ron’s full education.com profile and contact him.
Todd Schwartz, VP of Marketing
Todd previously served as Executive Vice President of the IPG Media, Search Marketing Services unit where he built the team and developed a plan to consolidate the holding company’s search engine marketing practice, offering tools and services to all IPG agencies. Prior to IPG, Todd co-founded and launched directMASS, a search engine and interactive marketing firm offering companies a full suite of search engine marketing services. The company was acquired by Refinery Inc., an interactive agency based in Philadelphia, Pa. in 2005.
Before directMASS, Todd served as Director of Sales for Ask Jeeves in the New York City office where he helped build a top-notch sales force, developed key strategies and implemented tactics to propel Ask Jeeves into a market leader position. Prior to his work at Ask Jeeves, Todd helped launch Rotomedia, a small advertising sales start-up, acquired by Ask Jeeves in 1999.
Todd has also served as an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University and received his B.A. from the University of Maryland.
Click here to view Todd’s Education.com profile and to contact him
Robert Brown, VP of Engineering
Bob Brown brings over 20 years of experience in science and
technology to the task of leading Engineering at education.com. Prior
to joining the company, Dr. Brown was the VP of Research and
Development at Visible Path, and before that the VP of Product
Development at Model N, where he lead the effort to create what is now
the flagship product line of that company. Prior to Model N, Bob was
Vice President of Engineering at Blue Martini Software, one of the
fastest growing software companies of the 1990s. Bob started his
professional career as a research scientist at RIACS, a research
institute at NASA Ames Research Center, followed by 10 years in
architecture and management at SGI, where he lead product efforts in
scientific visualization, 3D graphics, and animation. Bob holds a
B.A. in Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Ph.D in
Computer Science from Purdue University and has published numerous
articles in conference proceedings and journals, including Scientific
American and IEEE Computer.
Click here to view Bob ’s Education.com profile and to contact him
Seann Birkelund, VP of Business Development
Seann joins education.com from Azure Capital Partners, where he was
responsible for leading investments in the Software, Internet, and
Media practice at the firm. During his time at Azure, Seann helped
fund and advise a number of leading technology companies, including I4
Commerce, Knowledge Adventure, Limbo Mobile, OQO, SourceCode, and
Zend. Seann was also part of the team that recognized the opportunity
in the on-line education market that ultimately led to Azure’s
decision to incubate and fund education.com. Prior to Azure, Seann
held strategy and business development roles at Adventis and Nightfire
Software. Seann began his career at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, where he
advised leading telecommunications, enterprise, and government clients
on key network security and infrastructure growth strategies. Seann
holds an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a
B.A. in Economics and Pre-law from American University.
Click here to view Seann’s Education.com profile and to contact him
Danielle Wood, Director of Editorial
A publishing industry veteran, Danielle’s writing has appeared in a
number of newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, Stanford
Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty, and others. Before
becoming a writer, Danielle worked as the Director of Publicity for
Sterling Publishing. The proud mom of a precocious preschooler, she
is all too familiar with the challenges of potty training and the
intricacies of reverse food psychology. Pre-child, she traveled the
world with a backpack, reporting on her adventures as Editor of the
now defunct Emergency Exit.net. A very popular website, it was
featured in magazines across the world, including Hong Kong’s South
China Morning Post, India’s The Week, and England’s Create magazine.
Danielle has worked for a children’s educational software company and
written several books, including, The Uncollege Alternative, a guide
for high school and college students considering taking time off. She
has lectured on this topic at schools, home schooling conferences, and
elsewhere and been interviewed everywhere from NPR to The Boston
Globe. Danielle is a graduate of Harvard University, and has been an
alumni interviewer for her alma mater for 8 years.
Click here to view Danielle’s Education.com profile and to contact her
Denise Daniels, Director of Reference Content
Denise Daniels, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist, product
inventor, and businesswoman. She has extensive experience (16 years)
in the educational and health publishing sector, including 10 years as
a senior manager. Her background and expertise span the fields of
developmental and media psychology and electronic publishing. Most of
this time was spent at Simon & Schuster’s Computer Curriculum
Corp. and Score/Kaplan, Inc.
Dr. Daniels holds a bachelor's degree from the University of
California at Berkeley, and her M.A. and Ph. D. from the University of
Colorado at Boulder. Following the completion of her doctorate, she
did four years of postdoctoral work at Stanford University. She is
the author of over 40 articles, book chapters, and online
publications, on adolescent health, siblings, early temperament, and
parenting. Her current writing projects focus on developmental
processing patterns in personality. She is also mom to a soon-to-be
kindergartener.
Click here to view Denise’s Education.com profile and to contact her
