ITHACA, N.Y. — eCornell, Cornell University’s wholly-owned online-education company, has a new CEO.
Paul Krause, a 1991 graduate of Cornell, began his new duties on Wednesday, the subsidiary said in an online news release.
He previously served in the same role for Element K, an online-learning company headquartered in Rochester. It now operates as Skillsoft.
Krause replaces Chris Proulx, who had served as CEO of eCornell for 10 years, the organization said.
Proulx had announced in the spring that he was departing to become CEO of an international non-governmental organization (NGO) providing “scalable” learning and education to people working in international development and relief, according to the eCornell news release.
Krause grew Element K into the “second largest corporate e-learning company in the world” before Skillsoft bought the company in 2011, eCornell said.
Besides his work with Element K, Krause also recently co-founded Matrix Insights, LLC, an online platform for personalized-leadership development.
The eCornell board of directors selected Krause after conducting a national search for Proulx’s successor to lead the “next phase of eCornell’s online-education growth strategy,” according to the news release.
“Paul Krause has the track record and experience, leadership skills, and passion for online education that will not only continue but accelerate the growth of eCornell into an international leader in high-quality online higher education,” Phil Young, Cornell trustee emeritus and chair of the eCornell board of directors, said in a statement.
Krause said Cornell started early in the online-learning business.
“With the creation of eCornell in 2000, Cornell was among the first among its peers to deliver online-learning programs. I am excited by the opportunity to expand eCornell’s innovative online programs and bring high quality educational experiences to more people,” Krause said in the release.
eCornell says it provides more than 150 online professional and executive-development courses in the areas of leadership and management, human-resources management, financial management, health care, marketing, and hospitality and food-service management.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
