Jason Smith received his B.A. in Economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. (1994) with a concentration in Finance from the University of Iowa. He joins Foundations in Learning from ACT, Inc. and was with Breakthrough to Literacy for 14 years. His eighteen years of experience in the educational publishing/assessment markets have encompassed a range of responsibilities including sales, management, marketing, and program implementation.

Jerry Zimmermann, Ph.D., J.D. received a B.A. in Psychology from Brown University, an M.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Speech Science (1973) from the University of Iowa. His research at the University earned him the distinction of being a leading authority on stuttering.

Dr. Zimmermann founded Breakthrough to Literacy, Inc., an early literacy program, in 1991 that was sold to McGraw-Hill.

John Sims received his B.A. in Business Administration from Graceland University and an M.B.A. (1992) from the University of Iowa. He joins Foundations in Learning from Hitachi Consulting, a global management and technology consultancy. After starting his career with Breakthrough to Literacy, he brings twenty years of experience leading sales and marketing organizations in both entrepreneurial start up environments and mid-size firms.

Eric Soride received B.A. degrees (1998) in Political Science and Religion from the University of Iowa. He has fourteen years of experience managing all technological aspects involved in the development, testing, and support of software-based educational products. He joins Foundations in Learning after working for 10 years for Breakthrough to Literacy in a range of operational and technology roles.

Carolyn Brown, Ph.D. received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Eastern New Mexico University. She studied at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, where she earned her Ph.D. (1981) in the same field. Dr. Brown’s areas of specialization are Child Development, Language Acquisition, and Reading.

Dr. Brown founded Breakthrough to Literacy, Inc., an early literacy program, in 1991 that was sold to McGraw-Hill.