American Public Education, Inc. Announces Board Changes
June 15, 2020 at 04:01 pm
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American Public Education, Inc. announced the appointment of Granetta B. Blevins and Daniel S. Pianko to its Board of Directors, effective June 13, 2020, each to serve as a director of the company until the company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until a successor is duly elected and qualified. Ms. Blevins has also been appointed as a member of the audit committee of the Board, and Mr. Pianko is expected to be appointed to the transaction review committee of the Board. The appointment of Ms. Blevins and Mr. Pianko brings the total number of members on APEI's Board to nine. Granetta Blevins brings to APEI extensive expertise in strategic planning and strategy execution, as well as finance and overall management. Ms. Blevins has served in several executive leadership roles during her career, including CFO, COO, Chief of Staff and business advisor to executives for education and educational technology companies as well as other industries. Daniel Pianko brings more than two decades of financial and investment experience primarily in the education industry. Mr. Pianko is co-founder and managing director of investment firm University Ventures, which reimagines the future of higher education and creating new pathways from education to employment. Mr. Pianko is responsible for all aspects of fund operations at the firm, including capital raising, compliance, acquisitions and dispositions. From October 2018 to September 2019, Ms. Blevins served as Chief of Staff, LRNG at Southern New Hampshire University, where she was responsible for managing strategy, budget and resources for the LRNG learning platform. She also served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Staff of the non-profit social enterprise Collective Shift, which created the LRNG platform, from January 2015 until its acquisition by Southern New Hampshire University in October 2018. Ms. Blevins' other senior financial and leadership experience includes roles with Georgetown College, online education company bigchalk, educational game development company GlassLab, and private seed fund and incubator Education Design Studio, as well as companies in other industries. Prior to co-founding University Ventures, Mr. Pianko held positions at Ameriquest Capital Group and Edison Schools and started his career at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Pianko is a frequent commentator on student debt and advocate for more affordable education.
American Public Education, Inc., through its institutions, American Public University System (APUS), Rasmussen University (RU), Hondros College of Nursing (HCN), and Graduate School USA (GSUSA), provides online and campus-based postsecondary education and career learning. Its segments include APUS, RU and HCN. APUS segment provides online postsecondary education directed primarily at the needs of the military, military-affiliated, public service and service-minded communities through American Military University (AMU), and American Public University (APU). APUS serves about 90,000 adult learners worldwide via accessible and affordable higher education. RU segment provides nursing and health sciences-focused postsecondary education to over 13,500 students at its 22 campuses in six states and online. HCN segment offers pre-licensure nursing programs that are designed to prepare individuals for productive careers at its eight campuses (six in Ohio, one in Indiana, and one in Michigan).