Board of Directors

Mr. Ric Andersen has nearly 40 years of experience working in technology, consulting and private equity investing. He spent over 20 years at PwC Consulting where he served many of the firm's largest clients and rose to become a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer. He played a central role in the divestiture of PwC Consulting to IBM in 2002 and became a senior executive at the company, leading IBM’s services business in Asia for two years.

Mr. Andersen left IBM and joined Silver Lake Partners in 2005 where he established and led the firm’s Value Creation Team helping to drive value creation activities within the firm’s portfolio. He joined Milestone Partners in 2010 as a senior member of the firm’s management and investment team. In 2015 he joined Peak Equity, a Philadelphia-based private equity firm focused on lower middle market enterprise software where he is a Managing Partner.

He is currently a director on the Boards of two other privately held technology companies, G5 and Career Arc. He is also the lead independent director of Vertex, a publicly held software company. A member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Mr. Andersen holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Bucknell University.

Granetta Blevins has distinguished herself in both public service and private enterprise serving in senior management positions including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief of Staff for corporations and nonprofit organizations in diverse industries ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 public companies. She is known for her ability to operationalize a vision and achieve desired results and outcomes by effectively using her expertise in strategy development, her exceptional ability to connect strategy to finance, and her extraordinary judgement and leadership skills. Granetta currently has her own consulting practice specializing in strategy development and implementation, business operations, and chief financial officer services.

Granetta started her professional career working for Island Creek Corporation, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, in corporate planning and financial planning and analysis. After serving in progressively increasing roles of responsibility, Granetta left the energy sector and worked as a commercial banker and held executive leadership roles for a privately held defense contractor. For the past 20 years, Granetta has primarily worked in the education space and has been a member of the executive management team of four successful education related start-up companies. Most recently, she served as Chief of Staff, LRNG at Southern New Hampshire University, where she was responsible for strategy management, budget, and resources for the LRNG learning platform. In all of her positions, she has earned the reputation of being an extraordinary problem solver, collaborator, and influencer and doing so with a contagious optimism.

Granetta holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration from Georgetown College, a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Xavier University, and a Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa from Georgetown College. She currently serves on the board of Trustees of Georgetown College and has previously served on and chaired other nonprofit boards.

Major General (Retired) Barbara G. Fast currently serves as the President/CEO of BGF Enterprises LLC. She currently sits on the boards of American Public Education, Inc.; Hondros College School of Nursing; and several not-for-profit private organizations, to include the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) and the Cyber Advisory Council for Huntsville. She serves on the Strategic Advisory Group for the Sierra Nevada Corporation, a privately held aerospace engineering firm.

Prior to her current position, she served as the Senior Vice President, Strategic Engagements and, prior, Army Defense and Intelligence Programs, CGI Federal. With offices around the country, she was responsible for developing and executing cyber and biometrics strategies for government and commercial customers, as well as managing a business unit in support of government customers. Prior to that she was the Vice President, Cyber and Information Solutions, (The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)), where she developed the company’s cyber strategy and led Boeing’s cyber, unmanned underwater vehicle, electronic warfare and information business.

Major General (Retired) Fast retired from the U.S. Army after over 32 years of service. During her service, she held a variety of key positions, including Deputy Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC), Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC); Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca (responsible for all military intelligence on ground and distance learning instruction); Director of Intelligence (C2) Multinational Forces-Iraq and Combined Joint Task Force-7, Operation Iraqi Freedom; Director of Intelligence (J2), U.S. European Command; Director, S1, Signals Intelligence Directorate, and Assistant Deputy Director of Operations, Military Support/Deputy Director, Central Security Services, National Security Agency (NSA/CSS); Commander, 66th Military Intelligence Group; Deputy Chief of Staff, G2, 2nd Armored Division; Commander, 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion; and numerous other command and staff positions.

Major General (Retired) Fast holds a Bachelor of Science in Education (German and Spanish) from the University of Missouri, a Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Central Missouri State University. She is also a graduate of the Army War College.

She is married to Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Paul Fast. They, along with Darwin and Rocky, their two Australian Shepherds, are at home in Huntsville, Alabama and Big Sky, Montana.

Jean C. Halle has served on our Board since March 2006. Ms. Halle is currently an independent consultant. From 2002 to 2010, Ms. Halle was the Chief Executive Officer of Calvert Education Services, a provider of accredited distance education programs and educational support services. From 1999 to2001, Ms. Halle was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of New Business Development for Times Mirror Interactive, a digital media subsidiary of the former Times Mirror Company. From 1986 to 1999, Ms. Halle held a number of positions with The Baltimore Sun Company, including Vice President of New Business Development, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance, President of Homestead Publishing, a subsidiary of The Baltimore Sun Company, and Director of Strategic Planning. From 1983 to 1986, Ms. Halle was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance for Abell Communications, and Assistant Treasurer of A.S. Abell Company, the former parent company of The Baltimore Sun Company. Previously, from 1979 to 1983, Ms. Halle had been a Senior Management Consultant with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells, now Deloitte & Touche, an international accounting and professional services firm. Ms. Halle currently serves on the Advisory Board for Stevenson University.

Dr. Barbara (Bobbi) Kurshan is a leader in the fields of education technology, entrepreneurship, and investment in education. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Academic Innovation and a Senior Fellow in Education at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania where she runs the Milken-GSE Business Plan Competition, chairs EDSi (Education Design Studio) and oversees the Master's in Education Entrepreneurship program. Previously, as the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation, she provided strategic consulting in the areas of education, technology and innovation; and as the Executive Vice President of WorldSage, a consortium of for-profit higher education institutions in the EU to address education for the 21st century; she created a global network of tertiary institutions in the EU. As the past Executive Director of Curriki she helped to build one of the most innovative and robust global open source education communities. Dr. Kurshan has previously served as the Co-CEO of Core Learning, an education investment fund, and the Chief Academic Officer of bigchalk. She currently serves on the Board of several education companies. Numerous publishing credits include topics that explore women’s attitudes toward technology, how kids learn using computers, OER, new ways of learning through understanding and innovation in education.

Mr. Timothy Landon is the CEO of Landon Company and focuses on early stage angel investing and consulting for private equity, venture capital and large traditional and online media companies. Tim is the Chairman of BlockShopper.com, LLC., a start-up in the online real estate news and information space.

Previously, Mr. Landon worked for Tribune Company from 1986 until 2008 in a variety of positions and had leadership roles in starting CareerBuilder.com, Classified Ventures, the holding company of Apartments.com and Cars.com, and other online businesses. He also served on the boards of directors of CareerBuilder.com, Classified Ventures, ShopLocal.com and Topix.com. Most recently, he was President of Tribune Interactive from 2004 until 2008.

Mr. Landon currently serves on the board of directors of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a Chicago-based non-profit organization focused on early childhood development, socialization and learning in impoverished communities; major funders include the Harris, McCormick, Gates and Buffett foundations.

Mr. Landon holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. He and Elizabeth, his wife, have three children and live in Evanston, Illinois.

Daniel Pianko is co-founder and managing director at University Ventures (UV). With over a decade of experience in the education industry, Daniel has built a reputation as a trusted education adviser and innovator in student finance, medical education, and postsecondary education. A frequent commentator on higher education, Daniel’s insights have been featured in national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, TechCrunch, Inside Higher Ed, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Daniel began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and quickly became intrigued by the potential of leveraging private capital to establish the next generation of socially beneficial education companies. After leaving Goldman, Daniel invested in, founded, advised, or managed a number of education-related businesses that led to the creation of UV. Prior to founding UV, he established a student loan fund, served as chief of staff for the public/private investments in the Philadelphia School District, and worked as a hedge fund analyst.

He serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Board of Trustees of Harlem Village Academies.

Daniel graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University, and holds a M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Stanford University. He is the proud father of three children.

William G. Robinson, Jr. is the President of Broadgate Human Capital, LLC. which is a management consulting firm aimed at value creation through excellence in human resources. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Sabre and was a key executive in taking the company public and also served as CHRO for Coventry Healthcare which was a $14B publicly traded healthcare insurance company.

William was a 20 year veteran of the General Electric Company and Senior Executive. As a member of GE’s HR Executive Council, he held large scope and global HR leadership roles in diverse industries including HR Head for the Enterprise Solutions division which was a $12B portfolio of 5 global stand-alone GE businesses. He serves on the Boards of American Public Education Inc., Must Ministries and the Wake Forest University Athletics Deacon Club.

He holds a MA in Human Resources Development from Bowie State University and a BA in Communications from Wake Forest University.

Angela Selden was appointed Chief Executive Officer of American Public Education in September 2019. Ms. Selden brings more than 30 years of experience in technology and technology-enabled services, both within private-equity and publicly traded environments, and has deep experience executing business transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. She was previously CEO and board member of DIGARC, a leading education technology provider to higher education institutions. Previous roles include CEO of Workforce Insight, a global, strategic workforce consulting, analytics and services company serving Fortune 100 clients, CEO and Executive Co-Chairman of Arise Virtual Solutions, a virtual workforce solutions outsourcer, and interim CEO of Skybridge Americas, a global contact center and provider of fulfillment solutions. Ms. Selden serves on the University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business Strategic Board of Governors and was honoured as the University's Entrepreneur of the Year for 2012. Ms. Selden currently serves as Chairman of DinerIQ and as a board member of TalentWave. Earlier in her career, Ms. Selden spent 18 years at Accenture, including serving as the Managing Partner, leading the North American Consumer and Industrial Products group to significant growth.

Ms. Selden graduated from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN with a Bachelor of Arts in both Accounting and Computer Science.