Laureate Education lures Clinton as ‘honorary chancellor’
Former president expected to raise profile of company abroad
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 Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the Downtown Little Rock Partnership annual meeting at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Ark. (Russell Powell, Associated Press / April 21, 2010) |
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Laureate Education Inc., a Baltimore-based for-profit higher education company, said Monday that it scored former President Bill Clinton as its "honorary chancellor" – a high-profile position that's expected to raise the company's profile abroad.
The company, which owns a global network of more than 50 campus-based and online institutions in 21 countries, tapped Clinton as an internal adviser. He will also be featured in campus visits and in the company's marketing material to students.
"This is huge" for Laureate, said Amna Kirmani, marketing professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. "It'll put this company on the map. People will notice it. Other companies will notice them. It will bring a huge amount of credibility to the company."
The company's global network — called Laureate International Universities — will likely benefit from the prominence that Clinton still enjoys throughout most of the world, Kirmani said.
Laureate evolved out of Sylvan Learning Systems, a publicly traded company until three years ago. Sylvan's founder, Douglas L. Becker, took Laureate private in 2007 in a $3.82 billion buyout and has spent the past three years steering the company's education business abroad.
