Management Team

Matthew Leavy,
Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of eCollege, Matthew Leavy oversees all daily operations, including new business development, account management, customer care, professional services, product engineering technology and product management. Prior to his appointment as CEO of eCollege, Mr. Leavy was responsible for mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnering activities in addition to numerous internal strategic and operating projects for Pearson Education. He was previously the president of the Pearson Education Latin America Group and has held positions in corporate strategy and technology management both in Pearson and Prodigy Internet. Mr. Leavy also serves as a member of the Board of Safari Books Online, a Pearson joint venture and market leader in the online delivery of computer book content adn previously worked as an investment banking associate with Veronis, Suhler and Associates.

Vance Allen,
Chief Technology Officer
As Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Vance Allen oversees production and infrastructure, software architecture, program administration and all development activities for eCollege as well as Quality Assurance and offshore development operations. Mr. Allen, who joined eCollege in 1997 as a software engineer, helped build eCollege's first course management system, has since played a critical role in the advancement of eCollege's technology infrastructure. Prior to his promotion to CTO, he served as Vice President and Managing Director of Software and Technology where he was responsible for software development. Mr. Allen holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Pomona College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado.

Andrew Bergad,
Vice President, Educational Partner Operations
Andrew Bergad joined the eCollege team in 2004 as Vice President of Professional Services. In 2006, Mr. Bergad was given additional duties as Vice President of Educational Partner Operations where he is responsible for the day to day activities for Client Services, Help Desk, Academic Services and Technical Consulting. Prior to his experience with eCollege, he had six years of finance and product experience. Mr. Bergad has a BA in Economics from Northwestern University and a MA in Finance and Strategy from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Scot Chadwick,
Vice President, Account Management
A member of the eCollege team since 2004, Scot Chadwick is responsible for leading the sales team that manages all of eCollege’s client relationships. This team is responsible for engaging with senior leadership at institutions to develop and implement strategic growth plans. This partnership-focused approach enables eCollege clients to grow and expand their online programs ahead of the industry and with the highest quality and innovation in the market. Prior to joining eCollege, Mr. Chadwick spent three and a half years with Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. He also spent over seven years with a leading information management company where he worked closely with several prestigious institutions including Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Mr. Chadwick holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

John Dobbertin,
Vice President and Director, Product and Infrastructure
As Vice President of Engineering Services, John Dobbertin is responsible for eCollege’s entire hosting infrastructure, as well as all eCollege hardware. Mr. Dobbertin has been with eCollege since September of 1998 and, in addition to being one of the first members of eCollege’s quality assurance department, was eCollege’s first systems integration engineer. Prior to joining eCollege, he was a teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools system. Mr. Dobbertin has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and French from Niagara University and has completed several technical education tracts at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Michael P. Jackson,
Vice President of Software Development
As Vice President of Software Development, Mike Jackson is responsible for the eCollege Software Development organization; including software engineering, quality assurance engineering, sustaining development and software development services. With over a decade of development and management experience with one of the largest names in the software industry, Oracle (formerly PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards), he is a valuable addition to the eCollege team. At Oracle, Mr. Jackson acted as a senior director within the application division for some of the company’s most sophisticated products. He also oversees eCollege’s offshore software development. His extensive offshore development and management experience at Oracle (formerly PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards) has helped eCollege successfully partner with a Sri Lankan development team, now eCollege Lanka. Mr. Jackson earned his degree in business administration with an emphasis in computer information systems from the University of Northern Colorado.

Kendrick H. McLish,
Vice President, Product, Marketing and Strategy
As Vice President of Product , Marketing and Strategy at eCollege, Kendrick McLish leads the development of product strategy and requirements, as well as the company’s positioning in the marketplace. Previously, Mr. McLish was eCollege’s Senior Director of Operations, where he was responsible for collaborating with the other eLearning departments in the implementation and management of eLearning solutions and packaging and also worked collaboratively to grow online programs with some of eCollege’s most successful customers as Director of Account Management. Prior to eCollege, he worked at Routledge Inc, an academic publisher that was a part of International Thomson Publishing. Mr. McLish holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and a Master of Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Matthew Mermagen,
Vice President of Finance
As Vice President of Finance, Matthew Mermagen is responsible for all aspects of financial reporting and control, performance management, budgeting and strategic planning at eCollege. Prior to joining the eCollege team, Mr. Mermagen was the Finance and Operations Director for Pearson Education, Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. During his career at Pearson, he worked internationally in a number of business management positions. Mr. Mermagen was previously with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1999.