AUSTIN, TEX. (July 21, 2016) – Civitas Learning announced, today, that technology innovator Alex Victoria will join as Chief Technology Officer to lead engineering innovation and insight engine development to power student success initiatives at colleges and universities across the world.
In his role as Chief Technology Officer, Victoria will grow and lead Civitas Learning’s already expansive engineering and product teams, which now also includes a cohort of 14 engineers hired in June from top universities such as Rice University and University of Texas, who are set to bring recent college experience to bear on product design and user experience for student-facing products.
“Joining Civitas Learning combines an incredible opportunity to solve unique problems through technology while also advancing a clear social mission—helping a million more students succeed,” said Alex Victoria, Chief Technology Officer at Civitas Learning. “I am excited to help our partner institutions harness the power of proven technologies to power and evaluate high-impact student success initiatives and enhance the student experience.”
With over twenty years of experience building teams and software, Victoria has focused on product innovation and engineering at growth and scale-stage technology companies, navigating the ever-changing landscape of internet architecture and designing software systems that solve complex challenges. He previously served as Global Vice President for Platform Engineering and then Global Vice President, Mobile Product Development at HomeAway, the leading online marketplace for the vacation rental industry with over 1.2 million live vacation rental listings in 190 countries. His leadership at HomeAway included the successful transition from a proprietary architecture to an open-source platform that supported the company’s rapid growth to IPO and later $4 billion acquisition by Expedia.
“We believe that tapping robust expertise from both inside and outside education is essential for helping our partner institutions solve the biggest challenges facing higher ed,” said Dr. Mark D. Milliron, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer at Civitas Learning. “We’re thrilled to have Alex join Civitas Learning as our Chief Technology Officer. I know he’s excited about bringing his technical expertise, experience and leadership to bear to help support millions of students on their educational journeys.”
Civitas Learning applies data analytics to help institutions of higher education identify the hidden variables driving student success and provide precise recommendations to help faculty and leaders help all students achieve success. To support colleges and universities in this important work, Civitas Learning has united a team of best-in-class talent from some of the top companies, colleges and causes in the world.
Founder and CEO Charles Thornburgh’s background includes innovative, award-winning work in higher education plus leadership of several education technology companies. Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year program recently named Thornburgh as a Central Texas Finalist, and he was also named one of the “16 People Changing the Landscape of Online Education Forever.” Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer Mark Milliron, Ph. D. has worked with universities and community colleges across the country and around the world, including serving as the Deputy Director for Postsecondary Improvement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and also as founding Chancellor of WGU Texas. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently named Milliron a Top Tech Innovator.
As part of their commitment to leveraging best-in-class talent to support student success, Civitas Learning executive leadership also includes expertise from organizations such as Humana, Google, IBM, and Stanford University. In July 2016 the Austin Business Journal named Scott Chamberlain to the Best CFOs of 2016. The company includes over 250 talented educators, consultants, engineers, technologists, data scientists and analysts dedicated to supporting a network of more than 285 campuses reaching more than 5.9 million students across the world. Recently, the Austin Chamber of Commerce named Civitas Learning to the Austin A-List 2016, and the Austin Business Journal named Civitas Learning as one of the top 15 places to work in Austin.
