VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, July 7, 2006 - The non-profit Educational Policy Institute announced four new Directors to its Board today, broadening the scope of expertise and fully internationalizing the corporation. The additions include Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President of the University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada; Ms. Betsy Brand, Director of the American Youth Policy Forum, Washington, DC; Dr. David Breneman, Dean, Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; and Dr. Raymund Paredes, the Commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Austin, TX.

The new board members join existing members Dr. Paul Ramsey (Chairman), a Senior Vice President with the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, and Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of the Educational Policy Institute. Dr. John B. Lee, President of JBL Associates, fulfilled his Board rotation in March.

" I' m very excited by our new Board, "says Watson Scott Swail, EPI President and CEO. " The talent is extraordinary and the experience impressive. Our Board includes a former assistant secretary of education, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, former and current college presidents, and corporate leadership. This provides us with a solid foundation for ensuring that our organization grows in a prudent manner while remaining committed to our mission of expanding educational opportunity through high-level research and policy analysis."

The Educational Policy Institute was created in 2002 to conduct research and policy on issues related to postsecondary access and success. Within EPI are sub-units in the areas of program evaluation, professional development workshops and conferences, policy research, and survey design and administration. Specific areas of expertise within EPI include quality measurement in higher education, academic preparation and educational outreach, financial aid policy, and student retention and persistence. EPI is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with offices in Toronto, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia.

Educational Policy Institute - Board of Directors

Dr. Lloyd Axworthy currently serves as President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. He is the former Director of the Lui Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Colombia. Dr. Axworthy is also a former elected official in Canada who has held positions including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Employment and Immigration, and Minister of Western Economic Diversification. In 1999 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with land mine reform. His other awards include the Senator Patrick J. Leahy Award, the Madison Medal, and the CARE International Humanitarian Award. In the Spring of 2006 he led an Organization of American States delegation to Peru to review the country's elections. Dr. Axworthy's experience in public policy and in education will bring a unique international perspective to the Board.

Dr. Axworthy received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1972.

Ms. Betsy Brand (Treasurer) has served as Director of the American Youth Policy Forum since 2004, after joining the organization as Co-Director in 1998. As Director, she oversees the projects and staff and specializes in high school reform, career preparation, and college access and success. Ms. Brand served as a Legislative Associate for the House Committee on Education and Labor from 1977 to 1983. She subsequently served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee with Senator Dan Quayle from 1983 to 1989. In 1989, Ms. Brand was appointed Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education at the US Department of Education. From 1993 to 1998, she operated a consulting firm, Workforce Futures, Inc., focusing on policy and best practices affecting education and workforce preparation.

Ms. Brand received a BA from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.

Dr. David Breneman has served as University Professor and Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia since 1995. He was Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 1990 to 1995, where he taught graduate courses on the economics and on the financing of higher education, liberal arts colleges, and on the college presidency. As a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution Dr. Breneman conducted research for and published the book Liberal Arts Colleges: Thriving, Surviving, or Endangered? in 1994. From 1983 to 1989, he served as president of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, and from 1975 to 1983 was a Senior Fellow at Brookings specializing in the economics of higher education and public policy toward education.

Dr. Breneman received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Dr. Raymund Paredes is the Commissioner of Higher Education in Texas. As Commissioner, he leads the Coordinating Board in its mission to provide an affordable, accessible, quality education to all Texans. Under his direction, the Board is committed to achieving the goals set forth by Texas' higher education plan, Closing the Gaps by 2015. Before joining the Coordinating Board, Dr. Paredes was the Vice President for Programs at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF). From 2001 to 2003, he served as the Director of Creativity & Culture at the Rockefeller Foundation where he managed a budget of over $20 million and the awarding of over 200 grants annually in the arts and humanities. He is the former Voce Chancellor of Academic Development at UCLA, where he also served as an English professor. From 1996-1998, Dr. Paredes chaired the Cesar Chavez Center for Chicano Studies and then became a special assistant to the President of the University of California system. During his tenure as an assistant, he focused on outreach efforts intended to improve access to higher education for student from educationally-disadvantaged communities.

Dr. Paredes earned his Ph.D. in American Civilization from University of Texas, Austin in 1973.

Dr. Paul Ramsey (Chairman) is senior vice president of the Global Division of Educational Testing Service, with responsibility for all ETS products and services offered outside the United States. Previously, he was vice president and senior vice president of the School & College Services Division, which included College Board programs and the work ETS performed for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Educational Records Bureau, and the Southern Regional Education Board. He was also vice president for operations management, overseeing operations functions for all paper-based testing at ETS, and vice president of the Teaching & Learning Division, which creates assessment-, research- and standards-based professional development materials for teachers. Ramsey is a former high school English teacher and college professor.

Dr. Ramsey earned his Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Watson Scott Swail (Secretary) is the President and CEO of the Educational Policy Institute. Widely respected in the area of college opportunity research, Dr. Swail has published extensively in national journals and publications. Prior to establishing EPI, Dr. Swail served as the Founding Director of The Pell Institute and Vice President of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, DC. He previously served as senior policy analyst with SRI International and associate director for policy analysis with the College Board. He is a former public school technology teacher in the United States and in his native Canada.

Dr. Swail received his Ed.D in Educational Policy from George Washington University.