 |
Dr. Anthony G. Picciano is a Professor and Executive Officer for the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is also a member of the faculty in the Education Leadership Program at Hunter College, the doctoral program in Interactive Pedagogy and Technology at the Graduate Center, and the CUNY Online BA Program in Communication and Culture. He has forty years of experience in higher education administration and teaching and has served as a director of computer services, dean, vice president, and deputy to the president at CUNY and SUNY colleges. He has been involved in a number of major grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, IBM, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 1998, Dr. Picciano co-founded CUNY Online, a multi-million dollar initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that provides support services to faculty developing online and blended learning courses. In 2006, Dr. Picciano was part of the faculty group to design the first fully online BA program in CUNY. He currently serves as a representative of the president of the Graduate Center on the CUNY School of Professional Studies Governance Board.
Dr. Picciano’s major research interests are school leadership, policy, Internet-based teaching and learning, and multimedia instructional models. He has authored numerous articles and eight books including Data-Driven Decision Making for Effective School Leadership (2006, Pearson), Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology, 4th Edition (2005, Pearson), Distance Learning: Making Connections across Virtual Space and Time (2001, Pearson), and Educational Research Primer (2004, Continuum). His latest book was co-edited with Chuck Dziuban (University of Central Florida) and is entitled, Blended Learning: Research Perspectives (2007, Sloan Consortium). Dr. Picciano also recently finished a national study with Jeff Seaman (Babson College Survey Research Group) on the extent and nature of online learning in American school districts. It was the first study to collect data on and compare fully online and blended learning in K-12 schools. In 2007, Dr. Picciano served as a guest editor for an edition of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) dedicated to research in online learning in K-12 environments. Most recently, he also guest edited a special edition of JALN dedicated to blended learning.
Dr. Picciano has been on the Board of Directors of the Sloan Consortium since 2001. His activities have included serving on the planning committees for the Annual Conference (2001–2008), the Annual Workshop on Blended Learning (2003–2008), and the Symposium on Emerging Technologies (2008). He has also served as the project director for the Consortium’s Interpenetration Grant Activities. Lastly, he has been an associate editor of JALN since 2002.
|
 |
Dr. Wallace E. Boston was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Public University System (APUS) and its parent company, American Public Education, Inc. in July 2004. He joined APUS in 2002 as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Dr. Boston guided APUS through its successful accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association in 2006. In addition, he initiated the institution’s application to be the first totally distance learning university to receive Federal Student Aid after the repeal of the 50/50 rule in 2006. In November 2007, Dr. Boston led the parent company of APUS, American Public Education, Inc. (APEI), to an initial public offering on the NASDAQ Exchange. In a turbulent market, he led APEI to successful secondary offerings in February and December of 2008.
In addition to his service to the University, Dr. Boston is a member of the West Virginia Governor’s Advisory Council for Technology in Education and serves as a Board Member of the Education Alliance, a non-profit organization promoting public/private partnerships serving K-12 public schools in West Virginia. Dr. Boston is a Board Member of Avalere Health LLC and he is also a Board Member of the Gateway New Economy Council. He is a past Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of McDonogh School, a private K-12 school in Baltimore. In his career prior to APEI and APUS, Dr. Boston served as either CFO, COO, or CEO of Meridian Healthcare, Manor Healthcare, Neighborcare Pharmacies, and Sun Healthcare Group.
Dr. Boston is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. He earned an A.B. degree in History from Duke University, an MBA in Marketing and Accounting from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. In 2008, the Board of Trustees of APUS awarded him a Doctorate in Business Administration, honoris causa.
|
 |
Kevin Kinser is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He received two master's degrees and a doctorate from Columbia University's Teachers College and has taught in the higher education programs at Teachers College and Louisiana State University. Before his doctoral studies, Kinser worked in student affairs at Beloit College and Columbia University, serving as an administrator of student activities and student union operations. As a researcher, Kinser studies non-traditional and alternative higher education, particularly the organization and administration of for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. He is the author of more than 30 articles, chapters, and scholarly reports, and regularly presents papers at conferences in the United States and abroad. He is the co-editor (with James JF Forest) of Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2002), a comprehensive two-volume overview of American postsecondary education since World War II, and the author of From Main Street to wall Street: The Transformation of For-Profit Higher Education (Wiley, 2006). His latest book is The Global Growth of Private Higher Education, published by Wiley in 2010. |
 |
Daniel Pianko is a partner at University Ventures Fund. With over ten years of experience in the education industry, Daniel has built a reputation as a trusted advisor and educational entrepreneur who honors the traditions and values of higher education. Daniel began his career as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs. At Goldman, Daniel advised on over a billion dollars of transactions including mergers and equity financings. He entered the education industry as Director of Strategy and Planning at LearnNow, a high growth charter school company that was acquired by Edison Schools. Since his initial work with charter schools, Daniel has served as the lead operating executive of a 1,200 student university with multiple campuses, on the board of one of the largest distributor of K-12 technology products and as the lead analyst of an education focused hedge fund. Currently, Daniel sits on the board of Altius Education Inc, Hussian School of Art, and EDEX. Mr. Pianko graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University and received an M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Stanford University, where he chaired Stanford's Business of Education Conference. |
