Executive Leadership Team
Manuel
Guzman, Interim President
Alar
Elken, Senior Vice President/General Manager of the Technology and
Trades Division
Mark
Howe, Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Nancy
Roberson, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Health Care and Career
Ed Division
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Manuel Guzman
Interim President
Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group
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Manuel Guzman is currently serving as interim president for Cengage Learning
Career & Professional Group (CPG). In his dual role as interim president
and CFO, Manuel oversees Cengage Learning CPG’s overall strategic and financial
plan, balancing aggressive growth, operational efficiencies, and customer focus
to promote long-term success. He has been a key leader in redefining the
business from a vocational textbook publisher to a focus on lifelong learning
solutions for aspiring and practicing skills-based professionals. Manuel joined
CPG in 2004 as senior vice president and chief financial officer for the group.
Prior to joining Cengage Learning, Manuel served as the vice president of
finance for Thomson Legal & Regulatory. While there, he directed that
division’s worldwide financial planning processes and provided strategic
guidance and leadership. Prior to working for Thomson, Manuel was founder and
chief executive officer of Monument Information Resource (MIR), a higher
education market research firm. He has also worked in a variety of financial
and business management roles for Simon & Schuster/Prentice-Hall and
Macmillan.
Manuel holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an M.B.A. in finance, both
from Seton Hall University.
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Alar Elken
Senior Vice President/General Manager of the Technology and Trades Division
Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group
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Alar Elken, Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group’s Senior Vice
President & General Manager, is responsible for the operations of the $215M
Technologies & Trades Division, including product development, marketing,
and strategic alliances. He also has primary responsibility for acquisition and
distribution strategy, prospecting, negotiation and integration for this group.
Prior to his current position, Alar was senior vice president of business
development for CPG, managing acquisitions and strategic partnerships across
the company. He has been a key leader within CPG for 10 years, and has held
both sales and business-unit management positions. Prior to joining CPG, Alar
spent 15 years in trade and higher-education publishing, primarily with
McGraw-Hill, in positions of successive responsibility in editorial, sales
management, and publicity.
Alar holds a bachelor's degree in English from Colgate University and
significant M.B.A. coursework from Seton Hall University.
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Mark E. Howe
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group
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Mark Howe joined Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group as the vice
president of human resources in 1998, bringing more than 10 years of experience
to the post. Since then, the number of employees has more than doubled as the
company has grown organically, and through acquisitions and mergers. Mark was
promoted to Senior Vice President of Human Resources in 2003 and oversees all
CPG HR-related activities including strategic business partnering, employee
relations, communications, recruiting, training, compensation, and EEO/AAP
compliance.
Prior to working for CPG, Mark was director of human resources for Matthew
Bender & Co., Inc. where he held progressive positions in human resources
and customer service.
Mark holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the State
University of New York at Albany. He serves on the board of directors for the
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York, among other charitable and
professional associations, and lives in East Greenbush, NY with his wife and
three children.
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Nancy Roberson
Senior Vice President/General Manager, Health Care and Career Ed Division
Cengage Learning Career & Professional Group
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As Senior Vice President and General Manager, Nancy Roberson is responsible for
leading and driving the results of the Health Care and Career Occupation
Division's strategic business units within CPG. Ms. Roberson has helped shape
the tradition of being an innovative and successful provider of learning
solutions to meet the needs of both the academic and professional customers of
the lifelong learning market. She has played an integral role in determining
the strategic and financial direction of her division and has helped transform
the learning solutions business from a print-based publisher to a
platform-independent information provider. She has also been instrumental in
building and launching the first two professional business units for Delmar
Learning that currently reside in CPG.
Ms. Roberson came to Delmar initially as the Team Leader and President of
Milady, an imprint within the Delmar portfolio. She subsequently was promoted
to Vice President of Publishing and ultimately to Senior Vice President of
Learning Solutions prior to the company being divided into two divisions. Prior
to joining Delmar Learning, Nancy held senior-level positions in editorial,
marketing and operations at several major publishing companies including
Williams & Wilkins (now Lippincott/W&W), Scott Foresman (now Pearson), and
Mosby (now Elsevier Health) where she started her career in sales. Ms. Roberson
has over 28 years of experience across the publishing industry.
She holds a master’s degree from the University of Tulsa and a bachelor of
science degree from the University of Arkansas. She is also an active volunteer
for breast cancer awareness.
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