D2L Names Stephen Laster President

Learning technology company D2L has announced the promotion and appointment of Stephen Laster as president. In his new role, Laster will work alongside Founder and CEO John Baker and lead D2L's strategy, product, services, sales, and marketing teams, according to the company.

Laster has more than 25 years of leadership experience in digital transformation, product development, and technology enablement, previously serving as chief operating officer at D2L, chief product officer at Ellucian, chief digital and chief learning officer at Penn Foster, and chief digital officer at McGraw-Hill Education. He also served for six years as chief information officer for Harvard Business School.

"Stephen has already had a tremendous positive impact on our organization in leading the expansion and evolution of the Brightspace platform, elevating our client experience, and bringing additional operational rigor to make D2L better equipped to scale efficiently," said Baker, in a statement. "I'm excited for Stephen to take on a broader role and to collaborate on shaping the direction of D2L."

"Over its 20-year history, inspired by a clear vision to transform the way the world learns, D2L has established an excellent foundation for future growth," commented Stephen Laster. "I look forward to continuing to work closely with John and the executive team to execute on our priorities and expand our leadership position in ed tech."

Read More

As CIO of Harvard Business School, Stephen Laster wrote a four-part series on IT leadership for Campus Technology:

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • magnifying glass highlighting the letters “AI” within lines of text

    New Turnitin Detection Feature Helps Identify Use of AI Humanizer Tools

    Academic integrity solution provider Turnitin has expanded its AI writing detection capabilities with AI bypasser detection, a feature designed to help identify text that has been modified by AI humanizer tools.

  • laptop displaying a digital bookshelf of textbooks on its screen

    Collaboration Brings OpenStax Course Materials to Microsoft Learning Zone

    Open education resources provider OpenStax has partnered with Microsoft to integrate its digital library of 80 openly licensed titles into Microsoft Learning Zone, an on-device AI tool for generating interactive lessons and learning activities.

  • server racks, a human head with a microchip, data pipes, cloud storage, and analytical symbols

    OpenAI, Oracle Expand AI Infrastructure Partnership

    OpenAI and Oracle have announced they will develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity, expanding their artificial intelligence infrastructure partnership as part of the Stargate Project, a joint venture among OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank Group that aims to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing capacity over four years.

  • magnifying glass with AI icon in the center

    Google Intros Learning-Themed AI Mode Features for Search

    Google has announced new AI Mode features in Search, including image and PDF queries on desktop, a Canvas tool for planning, real-time help with Search Live, and Lens integration in Chrome. Features are launching in the U.S. ahead of the school year.