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Greg Priest

Greg Priest (38) is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SmartForce, the world's largest e-Learning company. Under Priest's leadership, SmartForce has completely transformed from an educational software company for IT professionals to a business that has been recognized by the International Data Corporation as the largest e-Learning company in the world. SmartForce is the world leader in providing global enterprises which comprehensive Internet infrastructures to support their learning initiatives throughout their enterprises, and into their extended enterprises of vendors, channel partners and customers. During Priest's three-year tenure, SmartForce has accelerated the growth of its business by more than 50% and has generated stockholder returns of over 400%, despite a challenging stock market environment for technology businesses.

Priest graduated first in his class from the Stanford Law School and summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. After completing law school, Priest served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court and to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeal. Priest subsequently joined Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, a Silicon Valley-based law firm, as a corporate and securities lawyer, where he was elected to the partnership. He joined SmartForce as its CFO in 1995, leaving at the end of 1997 to act as President and CEO of Knowledge Well, an e-Learning company that was subsequently acquired by SmartForce. Priest has been President and CEO of SmartForce since October 1998 and Chairman since January 2001.

Priest is a published author and has been a featured speaker at a wide range of conferences and events on e-Learning, e-Business and leveraging the human capital value chain. Priest was a founder of the SmartForce e-Learning Foundation (SELF), which works in partnership with community-based organizations to create career-based e-Learning programs to underserved communities in an effort to help bridge the Digital Divide. He also sits on the national board of directors of Operation Hope, a non-profit organization focused on digital and economic empowerment for individuals in underserved communities.

Appearances

Biography last updated May 10, 2002