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To arrange an interview, or for hi-resolution photographs, please contact Scholastic Media Relations at (212) 343-4563 or news@scholastic.com.
Richard Robinson
Under Dick Robinson’s leadership, Scholastic has become the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world and a leader in educational technology and children’s media, with such well known brands as Harry Potter, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Magic School Bus, Goosebumps and many others. Since he became President in 1974, CEO in 1975 and Chairman in 1982, Scholastic has also expanded its business internationally and continues to nurture its relationships with teachers, school leaders and librarians throughout the U.S. and the world through its well-known Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs, Scholastic Classroom Magazines and www.scholastic.com. The company’s groundbreaking reading intervention program READ 180 set the industry standard for use of proven technology in classrooms, and Scholastic continues to build on its strong position with other research-based technology programs such as ReadAbout:, FASTT Math and Scholastic Zip Zoom English.
Scholastic’s annual revenue has grown to $2.2 billion since Mr. Robinson assumed his roles, and today, the company has approximately 10,000 employees with operations in 15 countries.
Maureen O’Connell
Maureen oversees the company’s finances, global operations, IT, human resources, business development and legal departments. She joined Scholastic in January 2007 after serving as CFO at Barnes & Noble, President and COO at Gartner Inc., a technology research and advisory firm, and CFO at Affinion Group, Inc., an affinity marketing firm.
Ellie Berger
Ellie Berger oversees the award-winning Trade Publishing division at Scholastic, the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world. She directs the acquisition and publication of authors and properties for Scholastic, whose roster of bestselling authors and titles includes J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Cornelia Funke, Walter Dean Myers, Brian Selznick, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Meg Cabot, Christopher Paul Curtis, Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants, Ann Martin’s The Baby-sitters Club®, Norman Bridwell’s beloved Clifford the Big Red Dog®, Goosebumps®, The 39 Clues™, among many others. Ellie helped guide the complex production and manufacturing of every one of the Harry Potter books, including the seventh book in the series that broke all publishing sales records when it launched July 21, 2007. She is a true expert on kids and reading and can speak knowledgably about the world of children’s publishing.
Deborah Forte
Deborah is an award-winning children’s television producer, having executive produced more than 300 television productions, including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, I SPY, The Magic School Bus, Maya & Miguel and WordGirl. She co-produced with New Line Cinema the feature-length movie The Golden Compass, the first installment in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials book trilogy. Deborah joined Scholastic Media in 1995, and it has grown to become one of the foremost producers of quality, family-oriented content for a multitude of platforms as well as an award-winning licensor and marketer of children's properties worldwide. Deborah can speak about all aspects of children’s television and media.
Andrew Hedden
Andy supervises the legal functions for the entire company, including securities, litigation, copyright, trademark distribution and employment issues. Before joining Scholastic in 2008, Mr. Hedden was a partner at Baker & MacKenzie LLP, practicing corporate law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and securities law. He was a partner of Coudert Brothers LLP for 37 years before joining Baker & MacKenzie in 2005. Mr. Hedden has served the Scholastic Board of Directors for 15 years, and has advised the Board in the areas of corporate governance, acquisitions and securities. Andy graduated from Hamilton College and earned his LLB from Duke University School of Law.
Margery Mayer
Margery is an expert on 21st Century learning and a pioneer in the development of research-based educational technology programs. Under her leadership, Scholastic has developed groundbreaking programs such as: READ 180®, a reading intervention program for adolescents; System 44®, the breakthrough foundational reading program for older students who struggle with basic phonics; Expert 21®, a comprehensive language arts program that merges digital and print curricula; and FASTT Math™, a program to develop math fact fluency. Margery has been the driving force behind the growth in educational technology sales at Scholastic—from less than $40 million in FY 2001 to $160 million in FY 2008.
Judy Newman
Judy oversees Scholastic Book Clubs, the company’s unique school-based book distribution channel that has been a treasured tradition for teachers and students since 1948. Scholastic Book Clubs reach more than 1 million teachers and 2.2 million children in classrooms nationwide every year. In 1999, Judy created Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare initiative, which teaches children the value of reading and giving. Scholastic donates 100 books to charity for every 100 books read in participating classrooms around the country. She also developed Clubs Ordering On-Line (COOL), a service that allows teachers to submit Book Club orders via the Internet and Parent COOL, which enables families to submit orders to their teacher online with their children and order books together.
Hugh Roome
Hugh oversees the Scholastic professional magazines—Instructor, and Administr@tor—as well as Scholastic Asia. He also oversees Scholastic Marketing Partners, a division of Scholastic that custom-publishes educational materials for students, teachers and parents in the Pre-K–12 educational market. Hugh is also developing a plan for Scholastic to develop online courses for grades 11–12 and post-secondary education.
Greg Worrell
Greg is a forward-thinker on reading trends and the role of libraries in communities and schools. He oversees the development and publication of Classroom Magazines, Classroom Book collections and print and online reference materials for schools and libraries. Greg is an innovator in the educational publishing industry, boldly rethinking the way the company presents nonfiction materials to compete for the attention of the media-saturated, 21st Century child. Greg also oversees Lectorum Publications, a division of Scholastic that is the largest distributor of Spanish-language books in the country with robust sales to libraries, schools and wholesalers.
Clayton Wilcox, Ed. D.
A respected educator with almost 30 years of experience in schools, as a teacher, a principal and as a leader of large public school districts, Clayton is responsible for strengthening Scholastic's understanding of important education issues and guides the company's efforts to better partner with schools districts, state departments of education and non-governmental organizations. He is a former Superintendent of Schools in Pinellas County, Fla., and East Baton Rouge, La., and was a classroom teacher for 10 years at the beginning of his career. Clayton chairs Scholastic's National Advisory Council, a group of educators and leading researchers from around the country who convene to discuss important topics and trends in education.
Cynthia Augustine
Cindy is responsible for all human resource, staffing, compensation and benefits, and HR information system functions at Scholastic. She has extensive experience working in employment law and human resources. She joined Scholastic in July 2007 after serving as Senior VP of Talent Management for Time Warner, and before that as SVP of Human Resources at The New York Times Company. Cindy earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a J.D. from the Rutgers University School of Law.
Kyle Good
Kyle oversees media relations and internal communications, corporate productions, creative services, corporate graphics and the Scholastic library. Among her many responsibilities, Kyle led the public relations and media strategy campaign for the launches of the sixth (2005) and seventh (2007) books in the Harry Potter series. Prior to joining Scholastic in 2003, Kyle served as Director of New York and Regional Communications for the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). From 1977 to 1994, she was a network television news producer/director at CBS News and NBC News. From 1972 to 1976 she taught the fifth and sixth grades in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Corporate Governance