Matthew Pittinsky

Matthew Pittinsky is an American technology entrepreneur, educator and academic. He is the CEO of Parchment and a co-founder of Blackboard Inc. Pittinsky is also affiliated with Arizona State University as an assistant research professor.

Matthew Pittinsky
NationalityAmerican
Alma materAmerican University, Harvard Graduate School of Education
OccupationCEO of Parchment
Known forCo-founder of Blackboard Inc along with Michael Chasen, Stephen Gilfus, Daniel Cane

Early life

The youngest of four children, Matthew Pittinsky grew up in a family of educators.[1][2] His father worked as a university administrator, and was the president of the local school board.[3][4] Pittinsky's mother was a teacher at a public elementary school.[5]

As a child, Pittinsky was interested in technology and used his family's Atari 800 computer to program in BASIC and later learned to program on an Atari 1040st.[1][6][7] He was also active in Boy Scouts, earning the rank of Eagle Scout.[8] Pittinsky wanted to become a teacher from an early age,[4][9] though he initially struggled as a student and had to repeat failed classes in summer school.[10] After high school, he attended American University with the goal of becoming a social studies teacher. At American, Pittinsky served as student body president his senior year. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in political science.[7][11][12] While at American, Pittinsky met Michael Chasen, who would later become his business partner. The two met after Pittinsky borrowed a printer from Chasen. They later became roommates and fraternity brothers.[9][13] After graduating from American, Pittinsky earned a Master's of Education in 1995 from Harvard Graduate School of Education.[1][7][9]

Career

Early career

While at Harvard, Pittinsky developed software for online college admissions applications with Chasen. They called the venture Search and Apply Group.[7] Pittinsky and Chasen were unable to sell the idea to universities and later abandoned the project.[9][13]

In 1995, Pittinsky took a job at KPMG Peat Marwick as a higher education consultant. Chasen was hired by KPMG the following year and together they created technology solutions for universities. In 1996, while jogging along the Charles River near Harvard, Pittinsky had the idea to create online software for course instruction.

Pittinsky and Chasen left KPMG to start Blackboard in 1997. They used computers loaned from their boss and also stole desk chairs by using them to move the borrowed computers out of the office.[9]

Blackboard Inc

Pittinsky founded Blackboard LLC, with Chasen in 1997. At the time of the company’s foundation, it operated as a consulting group to the IMS e-Learning standards project, where Pittinsky was an early member.[1][14] In 1998, Blackboard LLC merged with CourseInfo LLC, an online learning software company developed by Cornell University students Stephen Gilfus and Daniel Cane, to create Blackboard Inc.[12][13][15] CourseInfo had already developed a product and found a market fit by selling to 15 premier institutions. The company renamed CourseInfo's Interactive Learning Network Product into Blackboard CourseInfo.[7]

Between 1997 and 2008, Pittinsky served in several roles at the company, including chairman and CEO, co-CEO, and executive chairman.[10][16] He was responsible for building the Blackboard brand along with Chasen through conferences, list-serves, marketing and networking.[3][9][13] Pittinsky also shaped corporate strategy and product strategy, and oversaw the company’s relations with the education community.[1]

In 2002, while at Blackboard, Pittinsky co-wrote and edited a book called The Wired Tower on e-learning and the internet's impact on education.[17] Pittinsky helped take Blackboard public in June 2004. The first day of trading raised US$70 million for the company, becoming the second most successful technology IPO of the year.[13][14]

Academia

Pittinsky left Blackboard in 2008 after completing his Ph.D. in Sociology of Education from Columbia University through Teachers College. After earning his Ph.D., he was hired as an assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University in January 2009.[14][18][19] His academic research specialized in economic sociology, sociology of education, and social network analysis.[2][18]

While at Arizona State, Pittinsky created a research project that used data collected from student ID cards to track student transactions and understand student social and academic activities.[19] As of March 2014, Pittinsky is still affiliated with Arizona State as an assistant research professor.[2]

Parchment

While at Blackboard, Pittinsky became interested in creating a company to help users manage academic credentials.[14][18] He was later introduced to Docufide, a company founded in 2003 that specialized in the online transfer of academic transcripts from high schools to colleges and universities.[14]

In January 2011, Pittinsky invested in Docufide and was hired as the company's CEO.[14][20] In April 2011, the company rebranded as Parchment and Pittinsky helped launch Parchment.com, the company's consumer site, later that year.[5][18]

Under Pittinsky's leadership, the platform has grown from 800,000 users in 2011 to approximately 1.6 million users in 2014. He has led the company through three rounds of financing which, as of March 2014, have brought in a total of $45 million in investments.[14][21] He has also helped expand Parchment's services to allow users to store and transfer transcripts, use academic data such as test scores and GPA to find matching institutions, and determine their likelihood of acceptance.[14][18]

During his time at Parchment, became an advocate for the adoption of Postsecondary Achievement Reports (PAR), which are documents that include both traditional academic records, such as grades, and information about student's development and learning experiences.[22]

Awards and recognition

While at Blackboard, Pittinsky won several awards. In 2000, he was awarded a "Young Innovator" award from the Kilby Awards Foundation and an Ernst & Young award for "Entrepreneur of the Year for Emerging Companies in Washington, D.C."[16] He was included in Washingtonian magazine’s “100 People to Watch” list in 1999 and named to Washington Techway magazine's list of Top Under-30 Technology Executives in 2000.[1][23] In 2001, he was named "Visionary of the Year" by the Northern Virginia Technology Council.[1]

In 2012, Pittinsky received the President's Medal of Excellence from Teachers College.[24]

Personal life

Pittinsky lives in Arizona with his wife and three children. He is of Jewish descent and is a member of Congregation Beth Israel.[5] Active as an angel investor, Pittinsky has invested in companies including SocialRadar and Interfolio.[25][26] As of March 2014, Pittinsky serves on the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.[10] He has previously served on the American University board of trustees and on the board of In2Books, a literacy nonprofit organization.[4]

References
  1. Michael Bruno (5 December 2001). "Washtech.com: The E-learning Revolution". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  2. Kirsten Winkler (25 April 2013). "Matthew Pittinsky of Parchment - Today's Campus Innovation Interview Series". Today's Campus. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  3. Anni Layne (31 October 1999). "Matthew Pittinsky". Fast Company. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  4. Cathy Sivak. "The education process is being transformed from chalkboard-intensive to utilization of e-Learning capabilities". Education.org. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  5. "Business Profile: Matthew Pittinsky, CEO". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  6. Pittinsky, Matthew (July 1, 2002). "Chapter 8: Five Great Promises of E-Learning". In Matthew, Pittinsky (ed.). The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education. Financial Times Prentice Hall. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-0130428295.
  7. Anne Kelleher (1 July 2011). "Blackboard Founders' Roots at American University". American Today. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  8. "Troop 214 Eagle Scouts". troop214.a-cal.com. Boy Scouts of America, Troop 214. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  9. Hope Katz Gibbs. "Blackboard Rules: Advice from Two of the Smartest Kids in the Class". Beinkandescent. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  10. Isaak Aronson (10 March 2014). "Matthew Pittinsky, CEO at Parchment". The Perspective. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  11. "Net software for entrepreneurs". The Financial Express. 1999. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  12. "Matthew Pittinsky, 25, CEO of Blackboard Inc". The Washington Post. 1998. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  13. Timothy Burn (May 2006). "Agent of Change: Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen erases the old way of learning" (PDF). SmartCEO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-22. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  14. Lisa Wirthman (29 June 2012). "Matthew Pittinsky found his formula for success — times two". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  15. Darlene Darcy (9 August 2009). "Years at Blackboard an education that turns employees into entrepreneurs". Washington D.C. Business Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  16. "Blackboard Inc.'s execs honored". Dallas Business Journal. 2 November 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  17. "The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education". TC Media Center. 1 December 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  18. Victor Rivero (10 September 2012). "Matthew Pittinsky Unleashes the Power of Parchment". EdTech Digest. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  19. Marc Parry (18 July 2012). "Big Data on Campus". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  20. "Docufide Raises $4.5M, Taps Blackboard Founder As CEO". socaltech.com. February 9, 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  21. Kirsten Winkler (19 March 2014). "Parchment Raises $10 Million Follow-on Investment". Edukwest. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  22. Matthew Pittinsky (10 February 2014). "Extending the Transcript". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  23. Howard Means (1999). "100 People to Watch". The Washingtonian. Archived from the original on 29 February 2000. Retrieved 25 June 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. "President Susan Fuhrman Presents Awards to Distinguished Alums at Teachers College". Education Update. May–June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  25. Bill Flook (19 June 2013). "SocialRadar raises $12.75 million from NEA, Grotech, Leonsis and more". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  26. "Matthew Pittinsky". CrunchBase. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
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