Experience in Education Innovation

Matt Hillman

Co-President

“What I love most about being a member of the Wiley Education Services team is that all colleagues are owners—of a marketing campaign, of helping a student get answers, or helping a faculty member design a course.”

Matt is a company veteran with a broad overview of the business. He started out as a program manager at Deltak, Wiley Education Services’ precursor, in 2003. He moved up through various roles in partnership operations before achieving his current position in 2014, where he oversees service delivery and partner strategy for all of Wiley’s partner schools.

Matt credits communication as a key to his growth as a leader at Wiley—especially listening, which he says “has enabled me to help colleagues and partners solve challenges faster and explore opportunities in a manner that helps promote growth and innovation.” Perhaps that’s why he most appreciates Wiley’s core value of “Think and Operate Like an Owner,” which he says promotes “an ethos of accountability that enables honest and open dialogue.”

Matt previously served in enrollment services positions at Sylvan Learning Systems’ Online Higher Education Division (now Laureate Education) and UMUC OnLine, Inc., a startup company at the University of Maryland University College. He also served as Assistant Director of Student Activities for two years at Franklin and Marshall College. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from Albright College.

Katie Zapata

Vice President of Operations

“There is always a new challenge or opportunity for growth in order to continue to successfully meet our partners’ needs.”

Katie calls herself “an entrepreneur at heart.” And that’s why she has loved working at Wiley Education Services since 2004: “There is always a new challenge or opportunity for growth in order to continue to successfully meet our partners’ needs.”

Katie has engaged in her own professional growth during her time at Wiley, starting out as a new manager and having the opportunity to lead in various team settings. Today she leads the operations team for all U.S. partners and also handles internal communication and culture. “I have loved influencing the cultural aspects of our business, including our core values and our intense focus on people development,” she says.

Katie began her career as an elementary school teacher and started out in online education as an instructional designer at UNext (later the Cardean Learning Group). She also founded Thinkeractive, a small consulting firm that developed e-learning solutions for business and schools.

She has a Bachelor’s in Education and Psychology from DePauw University and a Master’s in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University.

Jeremy Parker

Vice President of Partnership Operations

“We have a chance to be change agents at institutions around the country, which continues to keep me engaged each and every day.”

Jeremy is responsible for the oversight and management of large accounts at Wiley Education Services; heading the unit that offers tailored solutions to new and current partners; and serving on the leadership team.

Before he joined Wiley, Jeremy oversaw daily operations for university centers at several DeVry University locations in Florida. In the 10 years that he has been at Wiley, Jeremy has developed considerable expertise about the industry—something that he sees mirrored in other team members, who together create a knowledge base that is a significant advantage for partners. “We have a good sense of what will happen as schools venture online, both on the academic side and with the business offices,” he says. “We understand the change that this brings to the schools and can help them prepare for it and navigate through it. We understand there is more value in doing it correctly than in doing it quickly. We will not compromise quality for speed.”

Jeremy has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Celeste Martinell

Vice President of Operations

“Nothing is more satisfying than seeing our partners succeed in ways they didn’t imagine.”

In her role, Celeste leads the effort to ensure Wiley not only meets but exceeds partners’ expectations for service and delivery. “Nothing is more satisfying than seeing our partners succeed in ways they didn’t imagine,” she says.

Celeste most appreciates Wiley’s focus on nurturing a learning culture that changes lives, noting that focusing on collaboration and communication results in a fulfilling journey. “We are helping to usher in an enormous amount of change, often in a short amount of time, and to be successful as partners we have to be willing to learn from one another and respect one another’s views, perspectives, and experience.”

Prior to joining Wiley in 2009, Celeste spent 10 years in management consulting and advisory services. She held positions with Accenture and RCBG leading telecom, media, and technology companies through growth and transformation in the face of market disruption. Her experience working in entrepreneurial, rapid-growth environments and across global teams has translated into a strong ability to cultivate relationships of trust and confidence with Wiley’s partner institutions.

Celeste has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Economics from Ohio University.

David Migliorese

Vice President of Academic Services

“To do our best, continuous learning and adaptation are required.”

Passionate about student-centered, technology-enabled learning that is highly engaging, David began his career in user experience and moved into instructional design for online courses. He joined Wiley (then Deltak) in 2009 as Director of Online Learning. In that role, he worked with faculty members from the company’s partner institutions to develop over 250 new courses per year, developing and refining new and more efficient processes for communication, planning, course development, and staffing along the way.

He now heads a team of instructional designers and media specialists who lead innovation in story-driven learning, case-method teaching, and faculty communities of practice. Today they develop and manage a catalog of over 2,000 distinctive online courses in a wide array of degree programs.

David has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in Humanities from the University of Chicago.

Blaine Johnson

Vice President of Enrollment Services

“Enhancements in technology and the evolving student landscape require constant change.”

Blaine is in charge of one of the key responsibilities of the company: managing the student experience from admissions all the way through to graduation. Under his leadership enrollments have grown to more than 20,000 students across Wiley Education Services’ partner institutions.

Blaine cites Wiley’s 210-year history as one of the things that makes him most proud to work at the organization. But as much as we gain support from the past, he notes that an important part of his job is looking forward. “Enhancements in technology and the evolving student landscape requires constant change,’ he says. “During my time with Wiley I’ve developed in my ability to lead people efficiently through times of transformation.”

Before coming to Wiley, Blaine was Vice President of Sales for information security consulting firm CastleGarde and Director of Field Operations of the Beacon Institute, a company that specialized in delivering non-credit curriculum through a network of university partners. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a minor in Business from Troy State University.

Catie Starr

Vice President of Marketing

“I have been consistently impressed with how important our core values are to the organization and how much they mean to the people who work here.”

Before joining Wiley in 2016, Catie spent the majority of her career at large financial services companies including Discover, Charles Schwab, General Electric, and Bank of America. Moving to the higher education field was a big change, and a welcome one, she says. “Working for a company that is so closely focused on improving people’s lives was a breath of fresh air. I was excited to find an opportunity to apply the skills and strategies I learned in financial services to the field of education.” Her desire to help others is reflected in the company’s commitment to its core values every single day. “Starting with my first interview here, I have been consistently impressed with how important our core values are to the organization and how much they mean to the people who work here,” she says. “When we say we’re a learning culture, we live it.”

In her current role, she leads a team of experts in brand strategy, digital media and analytics, UX testing and optimization, and content strategy. Together they are responsible for representing partners’ brands and creating marketing strategies to attract and reach new students.

Catie has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Bradley University and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Gene Murray

Vice President of Business Development

“Each day we have the opportunity to impact the lives of learners.”

Gene leads the team responsible for building long-term strategic partnerships with higher education institutions to help them more effectively attract, recruit, engage, and retain students. He notes that Wiley’s ability to impact the lives of learners through engaging education programs “is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and it underlines our approach to partnership.”

Beyond his expertise in the education market, Gene also has years of experience in technology solutions and change management—skills that are vital in the rapidly evolving learning environment. It’s not surprising, then, that he identifies Wiley’s learning culture as the core value he most relates to, citing “our ability to consistently challenge ourselves to evolve and improve.”

Gene has a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Birmingham.

Cecilia Retelle Zywicki

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

“I love the ability to be entrepreneurial while also building partnerships.”

Cecilia joined Wiley when the organization acquired Ranku, the company she co-founded as a platform for institutions to reach prospective students more effectively and efficiently, in September 2016. Her goal is “to increase overall awareness of Wiley Education Services and our offerings” via identifying and engaging in strategic partnerships. She particularly enjoys the balance of entrepreneurial elements and partnership building in her new role.

Prior to founding Ranku, Cecilia was the Senior Director of Education policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a lobbyist at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. While at the chamber she worked to advance policy positions to ensure U.S. businesses remain competitive in a global economy with a prepared workforce, and she has been recognized as an education policy expert.

She has a Bachelor of Education in Foundation of Education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a JD from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and a Master’s in Education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is a licensed attorney and has K-8 teaching credentials with a specialty in science in the State of Minnesota. Cecilia was a member of the Gopher Women’s Hockey team, twice appearing in the Frozen Four.