David W. Smith
Chairman of the Board 

David W. Smith has spent 30 years in executive roles providing products and services to the education market. His management experience encompasses testing, training, software, and publishing business units.

Most recently he served as the CEO of NCS Pearson, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pearson plc. During Smith’s two-year tenure as CEO, revenue grew 50 percent from approximately $800 million in 2000 to $1.2 billion in 2002. Smith joined NCS Pearson in 1988 as Group Vice President, Education Systems Group. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Smith was President of NCS’ Assessment and Testing Services, overseeing three major divisions that represented more than $300 million in revenue. Before joining NCS, Smith spent 15 years as a publisher of professional, technical, and scholarly books and materials. He held senior executive positions in McGraw Hill Corporation’s Training Systems and College Divisions. Prior to that he held senior sales and marketing management responsibilities at William C. Brown Group and Houghton Mifflin Corporation.

Currently, Smith serves on the Boards of Directors of Capella Education Company, Inscape Publishing, and 4GLSchool Solutions. He is the past President and Chairman of the Association of Test Publishers and a past Director of the University of Iowa School of Business Board of Visitors. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa, as well as a B.A. and M.A. from Southern Illinois University.