ETS Selects New Head to Succeed Kurt Landgraf

MacDonald
MacDonald

The Board of Trustees of Educational Testing Service (ETS) has selected Walt MacDonald as the next president and CEO of the educational measurement and research organization headquartered on Rosedale Road that employs about 6,000 people and operates in 180 countries.

MacDonald will succeed Kurt Landgraf on Jan. 1, 2014. Landgraf has led the organization since 2000. Currently MacDonald serves as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of ETS.

“Walt MacDonald is an immensely talented and highly accomplished executive who has built a record of success across ETS’s assessment programs and operational divisions,” said Robert Murley, chairman of the ETS Board of Trustees.  “From strategic planning and execution and oversight to product design and innovation, to revenue growth, program management and quality control, he has produced exceptional results, inspired colleagues, and brought great credit to ETS and to the assessment industry. We are confident that with the appointment of MacDonald as President and CEO, the future of ETS and the interests of its employees and stakeholders in the United States and around the world will be in extremely capable hands.”

Founded as a non-profit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually, including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® test and The Praxis Series™ assessments, at more than 9,000 locations worldwide.

“I’m incredibly honored by the board’s decision and the confidence it has placed in me,” MacDonald said. “I have spent most of my professional life at ETS, and every day I am reminded of how fortunate I am for the opportunity to help improve teaching and learning for people literally all over the world. There are not many organizations where that is possible.”

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.