Blackboard Founder Leaves to bring broader expertise and capabilities to the Education and Training Industries

December 15th, 2007

BLACKBOARD FOUNDER AND INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE DESIGNER LEAVES
TO BRING BROADER EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES TO THE EDUCATION INDUSTRY

Blackboard Founder leaves to create innovation in education and training industries forms Gilfus Education Group.

WASHINGTON, DC (Friday, December 15th, 2007) – Stephen Gilfus announced today that he will be leaving Blackboard Inc. at the beginning of the new Year in January 2008 to form a new independent consulting organization that will bring innovation to the education and training industries.
“Over the last decade I have had the opportunity to serve thousands of institutions and organizations with their educational technology needs through my involvement in the development of Blackboard”, said Gilfus, “I am excited that I can now provide an independent and unbiased perspective on many of the industries past developments while providing extended capabilities to academic institutions and corporate eLearning organizations through agnostic decision making.”

Gilfus was a founder of Blackboard Inc., designer of its product suite and a key change agent in making Blackboard Inc. an industry leader in educational technology. Over the past decade Gilfus has spent time in various roles throughout the company.

As the companies founder Gilfus is noted as being a primary author of Blackboard’s business plan as well as the companies first VP of Marketing Sales bringing in marquis clients like University of Pittsburgh, Cornell University and Yale Medical and hundreds of others.

From 1997 to 2007, Mr. Gilfus held a variety of key leadership positions at Blackboard including head of Sales and Marketing, Corporate and Product Strategy, Product Management, Product Development, Strategic Development, and Blackboard Consulting as a facilitator and change agent leading many of the company’s core initiatives.
He is recognized by many organizations as a key driver behind the growth of the eLearning industry and has presented at hundreds of academic institutions and industry conferences as the primary author the Educational Technology Framework a strategic roadmap for adopting eLearning technologies within academic institutions and Fortune 500 Companies.

Prior to his departure from Blackboard Inc., on January 4th of 2008, Mr. Gilfus led the companies technology consulting practice where he guided a team of professionals, helping thousands of corporations, businesses, government organizations, universities and leading educational publishers around the world plan, implement, and deploy eLearning technologies. During his time at Blackboard he was a core designer of Blackboard’s software products, a member of IMS working groups, and a lead executive for the design and implementation of several private labels and thousands of eLearning deployments.

The formation of the Gilfus Education Group is a key step in providing new capabilities to the industry, through an independent perspective.

ABOUT THE GILFUS EDUCATION GROUP
Based in Washington DC, the Gilfus Education Group delivers education innovation academic and corporate enterprises through education and training, technology, and business consulting. The company provides a wide array of services to clients across the United States and around the world, offering insightful and diversified expertise to the education industry. Since 1997, Stephen Gilfus and his new team of experts have served thousands of businesses, universities, colleges, schools, academic content providers, and education and technology companies in meeting their mission-critical planning and technology needs.

The group consists of individuals of the highest caliber talent and experience in eLearning strategy, educational research, organizational planning, and technical implementation services representing capabilities for meeting organizational objectives and compliance, evaluating education and training quality and outcomes, and supporting technical integration, infrastructure, and delivery.

Refreshing Clarity. Education Innovation.

Website: www.www.gilfuseducationgroup.com

CONTACT:
Gilfus Education Group, (888) 903-3028 – 861.3375

For a complete biography on Stephen: Stephen Gilfus Bio: Wikipedia