Pearson Education Inc.

Beth Wray is the CEO of Pearson Achievement Solutions. Because of her background as a classroom teacher with a focus on special education, Beth is passionate about education. She has worked in the field of educational publishing for 22 years and has held several key leadership positions in Pearson. Beth believes that K 12 school leaders in the U.S. are seeking new and innovative solutions to improve student performance and that an organization built on an integrated foundation of content, technology, and services like Pearson Achievement Solutions will play a critical role in improving current student outcomes through systemic school change, customized content, and professional development.

John was educated and gained his degree and accountancy qualifications in New Zealand. He worked for three years in audit, then a commercial firm until he joined Pearson in 1985, where he worked in various finance roles. John has been Chief Financial Officer for EMA since June 2003. In this role, he is responsible for all financial aspects of the business including monthly reporting, budgeting, investment appraisal, operations and acquisitions.

Allan Meese is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of Pearson Achievement Solutions, where his principal responsibility is the financial and business planning, administration, and control across our three sites in Santa Monica, CA, Glenview, IL, and Boston, MA. As COO, Allan works with other senior managers to develop and execute strategic and operational plans to deliver results consistent with budgeted objectives. He is also responsible for the coordination and development of proposals and solutions that include products and services from more than one Pearson business unit. Allan has been with the company for 18 years, holding various financial operating unit leadership positions, including SVP and CFO for the Pearson Education Supplementary and Professional Development Group.

Judy's love of martial arts started with cardiokick and kickboxing classes at the D.A.S. Martial Arts Academy. Her appreciation for the martial arts blossomed when she began formal Sho-Ku-Jitsu training under Sensei Mark Morisi in 1999. In 2002, Judy earned a Jeet-Kune-Do certificate from Dan Inosanto, lead disciple of Bruce Lee. In 2005, Judy was one of the first women to earn a Black Belt in Morisi's Sho-Ku-Jitsy system. That same year, Judy became a certified Lil' Dragons Instructor by Century Martial Arts. Judy has been instructing children's Karate classes at the D.A.S. Martial Arts Academy for several years. Professionally, Judy has a degree in Journalism and Graphic Design from Pennsylvania State University. Judy has worked in educational publishing for the past 20 years. She is currently a Vice President of Operations Planning for Pearson Education. She also volunteers as a Junior Achievement teacher at the Montebello Elementary School.

Tom Brown is the Vice President, Sales, of Pearson Achievement Solutions. Tom has spent over 25 years in the computer-based education and training industry in product development, product marketing, sales support, sales, and national and global sales management. Tom believes that Pearson Achievement Solutions' mission of improving teaching is a key component to drive consistent student achievement and to maintain a competitive edge in the 21st century and beyond.

Carrie Spagnola has been keeping a journal ever since she was able to hold a pen. Journaling has always been a creative outlet and expression of emotion for her. Carrie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication and a Master in Business Administration degree. She works for Pearson Education as their Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and is also a part time Writing and Communication instructor. Carrie is member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), which is a not-for-profit international network of more than 13,000 professionals committed to improving the effectiveness of organizations through strategic business communication management.

Rachel Levy Wexler is the Director of Product Management. She is responsible for creating programs that not only anticipate and meet the districts' needs, but also represent innovative, comprehensive approaches. Rachel is enthusiastic about the various assets and capabilities that have been combined to form Pearson Achievement Solutions. Using creative technologies to leverage effective, engaging professional development, she believes that Pearson Achievement Solutions will help districts retain talent, drive positive student outcomes, and achieve new heights.

After graduating from Oxford, Victoria qualified as a solicitor in the Intellectual Property department at Clifford Chance. After 2 1/2 years with Amstrad in the mid 90's where she was company secretary and corporate lawyer, Victoria joined Pearson in 1997 as director of legal services.

Shaun has been a member at FCC since 1985. He and his family, including wife Ila and sons Stuart (21), Alex (18), and Doug (14) live in Poughkeepsie. He is currently employed at Pearson Education as an Operations Manager. Shaun began working with the youth in 1996. He has served as a trustee, chair of the property committee, an usher, search and merge committees. What brought the family to the church was their desire to be "IN the world, but not OF it, and for their kids to have a place to worship consistently. "We were welcomed warmly" says Ila, "and we stayed". The thing he likes best about FCC is being part of the family. He works with the kids because they deserve it and because they bring him great joy.

Born in Jamaica, New York. Mr. Edwards is an expert on regulatory transportation and tariff issues. Mr. Edwards conducts tariff reviews and analysis on behalf of shipper and carrier clients. Mr. Edwards also regularly deals with issues concerning OTI/FMC licensing applications. He researches tariff and service contract matters involving ocean common carriers and ocean transportation intermediaries in both the foreign and domestic commerce. Mr. Edwards conducts historical research on tariff items, bonds, and rules and regulations of various federal agencies that deal with the ocean/land transportation industry. He is regularly in contact with the Federal Maritime Commission and the Surface Transportation Board.

Jerry S. Scacchitti joined Lipspeer Telecom in May 2005. He started out as Director of Operations guiding the organization towards a path of operating at a higher level. Mr. Scacchitti quickly changed the face of the company by putting in place the tools necessary for running a sound operation. Mr. Scacchitti quickly developed and implemented a solid system behind the scenes which was easy to duplicate, manage and operate. Lipspeer Telecom has become a organization operating on a higher level since Mr. Scacchitti has joined the team. The positive impact of Mr. Scacchitti directing the organization has made him the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing all aspects of operations. Mr. Scacchitti spearheads development of the company's partner channels and strategic relationships. His focus is on providing customers worldwide with a broad range of value-added products and services. Mr. Scacchitti brings more than 10 years of sales operations expertise to Lipspeer Telecom. Currently, Mr. Scacchitti also serves as a Curriculum Account Executive for Pearson Education; responsible for sales and total solution technology implementations of curriculum software, educational training and software support to educators in the K-8 market. He works with districts in funding their solutions through grant opportunities. Previously, Mr. Scacchitti was the Assessment Consultant at Riverside Publishing, a Houghton Mifflin Company. He was responsible for sales of a wide range of assessment products and data management solutions to educators in the K-12 market. Mr. Scacchitti also served as the Operations Manager for George W. Long Inc. were he directly tranined, supervised, scheduled and hired staff of ninety employees. He was promoted to Director of Operations still serving the responsibilities of his prior role while implementing leadership training and comprehensive management programs. Mr. Scacchitti earned a B.A. from Suny College at Geneseo in New York while also obtaining a New York State Certification in Secondary Education. Mr. Scacchitti also spent time as a Math Teacher at Brighton Central School District in New York.

Kymberli Waller has been a board member since January 2005. Kymberli serves as an Educational Consultant with Pearson Education and an ESL teacher. She has a masters in teaching from Columbia University Teachers College and has been a professional educator since 1996. In June, 2005 Kymberli designed and coordinated the first Awassa Children's Project Summer Learning Camp, a successful program that will be replicated for years.

Alan Stewart discovered SF while in primary school, and fandom at University, and has never left since. His first convention was Aussiecon 2. He then became involved with the Melbourne Science Fiction Club and was Secretary for over 20 years straight. After graduating as a Chemical Engineer, he has lived in Melbourne, Australia, and currently works as an editor for Pearson Education. A couple of years ago he was in the top 50 rated tournament Scrabble players in Australia. He edits fanzines including Thyme which was a Hugo nominee and Ytterbium (an ANZAPA zine). He won the Ditmar Award for fanzine editing 1990, 1995 and 1997 and the William Atheling Jr. Award for SF criticism 1997. He has had over 50 poems professionally published, mainly SF or fantasy themed. Alan was Bid Chair for the Australia in '99 bid, and is on the board for the 2010 bid. In 1991 he was the FFANZ delegate to New Zealand, and in 1994 the DUFF delegate to North America where he attended Conadian.

The company's founder, Steven R. Kursh, Ph.D., CSDP, has extensive experience in the computer software industry and the Internet. He was the founder of a software company that was acquired by McGraw-Hill. Dr. Kursh is the author of academic and professional articles related to the software industry, telecommunications, and finance, and he is the author of a book published by Financial Times Prentice-Hall. Professor Kursh has been admitted as an expert to testify before arbitration panels and in the federal courts in matters related to computer software, including trade secrets, copyrights, and patents; the computer software industry, including software development practices, marketing, management, and valuation; and the Internet. Dr. Kursh is an Executive Professor at Northeastern University where he develops and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Finance, Telecommunications and graduate-level multidisciplinary courses that include topic coverage of software architectures, software project implementations, Information Technology (IT) investments, and IT assessments. He has also taught courses at Harvard University, at the University of Pennsylvania, and for CPE programs. Dr. Kursh was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2005. He has earned several teaching awards, including the Beta Gamma Sigma Award for Best Teacher and the University Excellence in Teaching Award. He serves as a General Editor in Finance and Information Technology for a division of Pearson Education. Dr. Kursh has also been a mentor capitalist and was recently awarded a patent. Professor Kursh received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and his AB from Boston College, Magna Cum Laude, Scholar of the College. He has earned the IEEE Computer Society Software Development Professional Certification (CSDP). The qualifications for the IEEE CSDP include documentation of at least 9,000 hours of software engineering experience. Candidates must also pass a rigorous examination covering the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge. Dr. Kursh is a registered member of the IBM Academic Initiative program and a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society, and the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is affiliated with the Cutter Consortium, an international IT advisory firm, and he serves as a reviewer for several business and technology journals.

Joanne Dresner is President of Pearson Education's English Language Teaching division, and Chairman of Pearson Education Latin America. Pearson Education is the global leader in educational publishing.