Blackboard Inc. Expands Board and Announces New Appointments
WASHINGTON, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc.
(Nasdaq: BBBB) announced today that it has expanded the number of directors
permitted to serve on the board to nine people and appointed Joseph L. Cowan,
Thomas Kalinske and Beth Kaplan, to the company's Board of Directors.
"Today, we have enhanced our board of directors significantly with the
addition of three executives with significant operational and financial
expertise," said Matthew Pittinsky, chairman and co-founder of Blackboard Inc.
"I am pleased to welcome Joe, Tom and Beth to the board."
E. Rogers Novak, managing member of Novak Biddle Venture Partners and
chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Blackboard board of
directors, said, "The board and Blackboard management identified areas of
expertise and qualifications that would improve our effectiveness, and made it
a priority to add directors with strong financial and general management,
especially from the software and education industries. Our new directors are
very accomplished individuals with the highest integrity. They will provide
Blackboard's senior management team with additional resources to assist in
shaping and executing the company's strategy."
New Board Member Profiles
Joseph L. Cowan
Joseph L. Cowan brings to Blackboard a proven track record of working with
enterprise software companies with broad product portfolios and global
operations. Mr. Cowan currently serves as chief executive officer of
Interwoven (Nasdaq: IWOV). Recently, Cowan served as chief executive officer
of Manugistics Group, Inc. a leading global provider of demand and supply
chain management solutions. Prior to joining Manugistics, Cowan was president
and chief executive officer at EXE Technologies. Previously, Cowan has also
held management positions at Invensys, Texas Instruments, Eurotherm Corp and
Monsanto. Mr. Cowan received a MS in electrical engineering from Arizona State
University and holds a BS in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
Thomas Kalinske
Thomas Kalinske currently serves as vice chairman of the board of Leapfrog
Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LF) and has served as a director of Leapfrog since
1997. From September 1997 to July 2006, Mr. Kalinske served as CEO of Leapfrog
and was the Chairman of the board of directors of Leapfrog from September 1997
to February 2004. Mr. Kalinske served as the president of Knowledge Universe
LLC (now renamed Krest LLC) , a private company focused on building leading
companies in areas relating to education, technology and career management and
the improvement of individual and corporate performance. From 1990 to 1996, he
served as president and chief executive officer of Sega of America. From
1987 to 1990, he was president and chief executive officer of the Universal
Matchbox Group. From 1985 to 1987, he served as president and co-chief
executive officer of Mattel, Inc. Mr. Kalinske served in other senior
management positions at Mattel from 1972 to 1985. Mr. Kalinske is a past board
member of the National Education Association Foundation for the Improvement of
Education and of the RAND Education Board. Mr. Kalinske received a BS degree
from the University of Wisconsin and a MBA degree from the University of
Arizona.
Beth Kaplan
Beth Kaplan heads Axcel Partners, a Baltimore-based venture capital firm
she helped found in 2001. Ms. Kaplan has been responsible for brand management
and marketing for several of the nation's leading retailers and consumer
products during her career. She was executive vice president and general
manager for Bath & Body Works, a division of Limited Brands, where she
pioneered the development of 64 beauty specialty stores. She also served as
senior executive vice president of marketing and merchandising at Rite Aid
Drugstores. Between 1994 and 1996, she was president and general manager of
Noxell, the cosmetics division of Procter & Gamble that included the Cover
Girl and Max Factor brands. She also served as a general manager of several
brands under the Procter & Gamble food division. Kaplan holds an
undergraduate degree in economics and an MBA from The Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania where she is a member of the board of overseers.
Ms. Kaplan previously served as a director of Blackboard from July 2000 to
August 2001.
Other Blackboard board members, including Matthew Pittinsky, chairman of
Blackboard Inc.; Michael L. Chasen, president and chief executive officer of
Blackboard Inc.; Frank R. Gatti, chief financial officer of Educational
Testing Service; E. Rogers Novak, co-founder of Novak Biddle Venture Partners;
William Raduchel; and Dr. Arthur Levine, president of The Woodrow Wilson
Foundation.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise software applications
and related services to the education industry. Founded in 1997, Blackboard
enables educational innovations everywhere by connecting people and
technology. Millions of people use Blackboard everyday at academic
institutions around the globe, including colleges, universities, K-12 schools
and other education providers, as well as textbook publishers and student-
focused merchants that serve education providers and their students.
Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North
America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Blackboard
Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.(TM)
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
-0- 04/23/2007
/CONTACT: Michael J. Stanton, Vice President, Investor Relations of
Blackboard Inc., +1-202-463-4860 ext. 2305/
/Web site: http://www.blackboard.com/
(BBBB)
CO: Blackboard Inc.
ST: District of Columbia
IN: STW CPR
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