Carnegie is entering its next chapter of leadership.
Todd Zipper will join Carnegie as Chief Executive Officer effective September 28, succeeding Gary Colen, who will transition to Carnegie’s Board of Directors and remain closely connected to the company’s strategy and future direction.
Todd joins Carnegie at an important moment for higher education.
Institutions are navigating major shifts in student expectations, demographics, technology, competition, and the ways students discover, evaluate, and experience higher education. AI is accelerating many of those changes while creating new opportunities for colleges and universities to rethink how they operate, engage students, and deliver value.
For Carnegie, this moment calls for leadership with deep experience across both education and technology and a clear understanding of what it takes to help organizations evolve through periods of significant change.
“Todd brings the experience, the perspective, and the conviction to build on everything this team has accomplished, and I could not be more confident in what comes next for Carnegie under his leadership,” said Colen. “Higher education is moving quickly, and we have an incredible opportunity to continue evolving alongside the institutions we serve.”
Todd brings more than two decades of experience building and growing education, marketing and technology organizations.
Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Axio, an AI-driven learning innovation platform, where he led the company’s work around emerging AI applications for higher education. Previously, Todd served as Executive Vice President and General Manager at Wiley, leading Wiley Education Services and Wiley Talent. He also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Learning House.
Across those roles, Todd has worked with institutions, education companies, and technology organizations through periods of growth, transformation, and significant change.
“Carnegie has built something genuinely rare in this category: the trust of nearly a thousand institutions and a team deeply committed to helping higher education move forward,” said Zipper. “Higher education is in a defining moment. AI is reshaping how learning happens, institutions are navigating more complexity than ever, and there is tremendous opportunity to help colleges and universities adapt while staying focused on the students they serve. I’m excited to build on what this team has created and help shape what comes next.”
Building on Carnegie’s Momentum
Over the past five years, Carnegie has expanded the ways we support higher education and now partners with nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across the country.
That growth has broadened the role Carnegie plays with institutions. Today, our work spans enrollment, marketing, research, strategy, technology, student success, and the emerging challenges shaping higher education’s future.
As those challenges become more connected, institutions need partners who can help them see the bigger picture while still solving the immediate problems in front of them.
Todd’s arrival reflects that opportunity.
His experience across higher education, technology, organizational growth, and AI will help Carnegie continue building the capabilities institutions need as they navigate what’s now and prepare for what’s next.
“I’m incredibly proud of what this team has built and even more excited about where Carnegie can go from here,” said Colen. “This is an important moment for our company and for higher education, and I believe Todd is the right person to lead us into it.”
We look forward to introducing Todd to more of the Carnegie community in the weeks and months ahead, as he continues to drive the innovation and client-service focus Carnegie is known for.
