iversity creates Advisory Board

Bernau bei Berlin, 18 December 2013 – To prepare for the successful expansion of its online learning platform, iversity announces the creation of an independent advisory board. The founding members include former iversity CEO, Marcus Riecke, who will be joined by Jörg Dräger, PhD, managing director of the CHE (Centre for Higher Education).

Additional members will be named in the months to come. Among other duties, the board will provide strategic consulting of the management and engage in dialog with stakeholders about the topic of the digitisation of higher education. The advisory board members will also be available for interviews.

Marcus Riecke is a veteran of the Internet business industry in Germany. Riecke has worked in various management positions in companies that include Bertelsmann, AOL, eGroups (now Yahoo!Groups), eBay, Flickr and Monster. In December 2012, he brought his business expertise to iversity and strengthened its management operations as CEO. With his support, the company was successfully realigned to become a platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and by the middle of October 2013, established itself as the largest European MOOC provider. Moving to the advisory board, Riecke passes on his CEO duties on to Hannes Klöpper, iversity’s founding managing director. "In less than a year, we have managed to establish iversity as the leading MOOC platform in Europe. With more than a quarter of a million students, the company is now in an excellent position for further rapid growth. I will actively support iversity as a shareholder and advisory board member," Riecke comments on his move to the advisory board.

Jörg Dräger, PhD, was the Science Senator of the city-state of Hamburg for seven years, and alongside his management activities in the field of education at the Bertelsmann Foundation since 2008, he has served as managing director for the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). "MOOCs are just the beginning of a development that will change the foundations of higher education. It is important that Germany and Europe develop as strong players in the important field of digital education, which should not only be left to American colleges and platforms," says Mr. Dräger, explaining his engagement with iversity.

In 2014, iversity aims to significantly expand its course offerings and attract one million registered users. The newly formed advisory board serves as an important business development instrument in implementing this strategy.

About iversity

iversity.org is an online platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). iversity supports universities and professors in seizing the opportunities that online teaching offers. On iversity.org, professors can share their knowledge with thousands of students at once. In online courses given by renowned lecturers, students from all over the world can access academic education.

Press Contact

Julia Bader | Head of Communication | iversity.org
Tel.: +49 (0)3338 60480-20 | Mobile: +49 (0)151 180 18281
Email: j.bader@iversity.org
Twitter: @iversity
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iversity.org

This release was published on openPR.