As members of the Certification Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, the industry leaders profiled on these pages have agreed to provide us with their guidance, counsel and, most of all, time to ensure we continue to report the most relevant, accurate and vital information about certification.
Michael Brannick
Prometric
President and Chief Executive Officer
Michael Brannick is the president and chief executive officer of Prometric, a part of The Thomson Corporation; a position he has held since June 2001. Since joining Prometric, Michael has focused on successfully expanding the company's presence in the rapidly growing global testing and certification market. In addition to promoting testing as a validation of the learning experience, he has focused on deploying new technologies, entering new international markets, and placing an unwavering emphasis on client services. For more than two decades, Michael has been involved in a broad range of developmental and research activities in the education industry. Prior to joining Prometric, Michael served as president and chief executive officer of Peterson's, also part of The Thomson Corporation. In this position, Michael built a new infrastructure for the company's databases and business systems, driven by a strategy to transform Peterson's from a print-based publisher of data to an integrated education information service employing print, software, and Internet tools. In addition, Michael oversaw the strategic planning and development functions. Before joining Peterson's, Michael served as senior vice president of business development for Jostens Learning Corporation. He directed international operations, initiated and managed partnerships that focused on entering new markets, and led product development to increase the company's offerings. He joined Jostens Learning in 1994 as vice president of product marketing, and was promoted a year later to vice president, strategy and planning, and then to senior vice president. Michael also spent eight years with the National Education Corporation in a variety of senior marketing roles. He holds a M.A. degree in industrial psychology from California State University at Long Beach, and specialty certifications from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and the University of Southern California. He has authored several executive bylined articles and position papers for various higher education trade publications and books.
David Foster, Ph.D.
Caveon
President
A psychologist, psychometrician and recognized luminary in the measurement industry, Foster is credited with introducing computerized adaptive testing and simulation-based performance testing as part of Novell’s IT certification program. Following his tenure with Novell, Foster co-founded Galton Technologies, which was acquired by Thomson Learning in 2002. Foster is past President of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) and currently serves on ATP’s Conference Program Committee. He is also active in the International Test Commission, the certification accreditation committee for the American National Standards Institute and the GMAC Technical Advisory Board. Foster is also a member of the National Council for Measurement in Education and the American Educational Research Association.
Bee Ng, Ph.D.
Sun Microsystems Inc.
Director, Educational Services
Bee Ng, Ph.D., oversees Sun Educational Services product lines which includes classroom training, online learning and Sun Certifications. Leading with Java and Solaris Certifications, Sun is one of the top three IT certification vendors in terms of certifications granted. Sun Educational Services is one of the top 10 IT training providers on the planet. Bee’s team manages more than 5,000 active learning products available in over 50 countries across the globe.
In her 19-year tenure in the high-tech industry, Bee has been an educator, an architect, a consultant and a functional and business leader in the areas of learning, productivity and human performance for sales, services and IT professionals. In the late ’90s, she led the design and development of the popular industry-wide A+ certification exams for the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).
Prior to Sun, Bee jump-started the Education Department for Lutris Technologies, a startup in open-source application server. Before that, she was director of Sales and Services Performance at a Pearson Education company. She also spent many years at Digital Equipment Corp. and Compaq.
Bee received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
Shawn B. Rogers
Hewlett-Packard Certified Professional Program
Worldwide Certification Project Manager
Shawn has been involved in the training and certification industry for twelve years, having worked for WordPerfect, Novell, Compaq, and now HP. Prior to the Compaq/HP merger, he was the Certification Program Manager for Compaq's Industry Standard Server division. He holds IT industry certifications from Novell (Master CNI and Master CNE), Microsoft (MCSE), and CompTIA (Server+ Certified Professional and Certified Technical Trainer). He is also the author or co-author of seven books relating to electronic messaging technologies.
Erik Ullanderson
Learning@Cisco Group, Cisco Systems Inc
Manager of Global Certifications
Erik Ullanderson serves as the manager of global certifications for the Learning@Cisco Group, for which he is responsible for the design, development and exam strategy for the Cisco Career Certifications Program. In this role, Ullanderson oversees all certification exam developments, delivery and policy updates for Associate- through Expert-level certifications.
He has been active in the certification industry for more than a decade, formerly working in the Netherlands, managing test development. Ullanderson holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a certificate in education from North Park University.
Daniel Veitkus
Novell, Inc.
Vice President, Global Field Operations
Dan Veitkus is responsible for all aspects of field operations including the firm’s partner programs which define the company’s engagement with more than 5000 global partners that sell and deliver Novell products and services. Previously, Veitkus served as Vice President, Training Services, with global responsibility for leading the development, publishing and delivery of a comprehensive portfolio of education services to customers, partners and employees. Prior to his tenure with Novell, he served in a variety of leadership roles in the IT and Telecommunications Industries. Veitkus is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is vice-chair of the CompTIA Education Foundation and he is an executive mentor for business students enrolled at several leading universities.
Robert D. Whelan
Pearson VUE
Vice President and General Manager
As vice president and general manager of Pearson VUE, Whelan has overall management responsibility for the electronic testing business, including test development, program management and finance. Whelan is also responsible for the two Pearson VUE test center networks: more than 3,500 Pearson VUE Authorized Centers worldwide and 202 company-owned and –operated, domestic Pearson Professional Centers. Before joining Pearson VUE, Whelan served as vice president of business development for Personnel Decisions International and vice president of sales and marketing for NCS (National Computer Systems).
Lutz L. Ziob
Microsoft Training & Certification
General Manager
Lutz Ziob joined Microsoft in July 2002 as General Manager of Training & Certification, a world-class organization reaching over 2 million students worldwide with courseware in 18 languages. Lutz oversees the development, distribution, and worldwide marketing of developer training, IT professional training, certification, and skills assessments. Prior to joining Microsoft, Lutz was Vice President of Certification at CompTIA since April 2000. In that role, he led CompTIA's certification department with overall responsibility for certification development and global program growth. Previously, Lutz was director of Worldwide Education Sales Programs at Novell, Inc. His responsibilities included managing Novell Education's global training channel and IT certification programs, and directing Novell Education's business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Lutz also served as a sales account manager for WordPerfect Corporation in Germany and was a research fellow at the University of Bochum, Germany and the University of London, UK, where he specialized in comparative studies of European education. Lutz holds a master's degree in education and history from the University of Bochum, (Germany). He has also studied in Exeter and London, UK.
