SIIA VP for Education Dr. Karen Billings Inducted into Association of Educational Publishing Hall of Fame
Billings Honored for her Business, Teaching, and Leadership Contributions to Educational Publishing and Educational Technology Industries
Washington, D.C. (Dec. 5, 2012) – The Education Division of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announces that Dr. Karen Billings, VP for the Education Division at SIIA, was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Hall of Fame. The induction was held during a ceremony at the McGraw Hill Conference Center in New York on Nov. 29.
“Ten years ago we had a vacancy at the head of our Education Division. I thought to myself, why not recruit the best? I had heard of Karen Billings, and I had met her several times at industry conferences. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be successful in persuading Karen and her husband Jim to pack up their house in Washington and move clear across the country to Washington, D.C., and head up our Education Division,” said Ken Wasch, president at SIIA, in a video presentation shown at the awards ceremony. “Karen is not just an industry visionary – she’s an operational whiz. She engenders the greatest loyalty among the people she works with, and the members she serves.”
The educational publishing industry’s highest individual honor, the AEP Hall of Fame recognizes those who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of educational resources and the industry that develops and supports them.
Billings has nearly tripled the number of educational company members at SIIA in past 10 years. She founded the Innovation Incubator program and the One-to-One Business Profiles program, and has doubled attendance at signature education technology events. She has grown the CODiEs program from seven educational technology awards to 21 in 2012.
Billings drives strategic direction, programs, and initiatives for the 180 education-focused members focused on providing technology products and services to the K-12 and postsecondary markets. In the past ten years at SIIA, she has supported education members with programs that provide thought leadership, industry advocacy, business development, and critical market information to better serve the evolving needs of the educational technology industry and its marketplace.
Billings has 45 years of experience with education technology, including 12 years in K-12 and postsecondary classrooms. She taught mathematics and computer classes in public and private schools in rural, suburban, and urban areas in Iowa, Alabama, Oregon, and New York. Her graduate teaching experiences, including both face-to face and online courses, were at Columbia University Teachers College, UC Berkeley, and Pepperdine University.
She then went on to hold positions in management, product development, marketing, and sales within the publishing and technology industries. Prior to joining SIIA, Billings held executive-level positions at bigchalk Inc and MediaSeek Technologies. Earlier in her career, she held positions at Microsoft Corporation, Claris Corporation (now FileMaker), Logo Computer Systems, Inc., and Houghton-Mifflin Company (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Billings has authored four books and numerous articles for education journals, has been active in many education technology associations, and is a frequent speaker at education conferences. In 1986, she was given a lifetime membership to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
She received her Doctorate in Communications, Computing and Technology at Columbia University Teachers College, where she specialized in the uses and evaluation of technology in education. Billings received her Master’s Degree from the University of Oregon, and her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Northern Iowa.
For more information about the AEP Hall of Fame, visit the AEP website.
About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 500 leading software and information companies. The SIIA Education Division serves and represents more than 200 member companies that provide software, digital content and other technologies that address educational needs. The Division shapes and supports the industry by providing leadership, advocacy, business development opportunities and critical market information. For more information, visit www.siia.net/education.
Media Contacts
• Laura Greenback, SIIA Communications, 410-533-1943, lgreenback@siia.net
• Saul Hafenbredl, C. Blohm & Associates, 608-216-7300 x25, saul@cblohm.com