Charles Town,
WV—April 13, 2022 – American Public
University System (APUS) today announced that David Cumberbatch has been appointed to
its Board of Trustees. A seasoned education and technology executive, Cumberbatch has driven strategic
growth initiatives at consumer-facing companies including Microsoft, ACT Inc., and Stride, Inc., and now
serves as Senior Advisor for K-12 Solutions at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“We’re excited to welcome Mr. Cumberbatch to the APUS Board. His breadth and depth of experience – across higher education, technology and consumer-facing organizations – is well-suited for APUS’s mission of delivering accessible and affordable online higher education to adult learners of all backgrounds,” said Frank Ball, APUS Board of Trustee Chairman.
Cumberbatch serves as a Senior Advisor to New Markets Ventures and a founding board member of Undaunted Futures. He has also served as a member of the Board of Advisors for Apogee Equity Partners, Village Capital, and Riiid Labs.
“I am honored to join APUS with online higher education playing such an important role in upskilling and cross-skilling a dynamic workforce amid increased corporate demands,” said Cumberbatch. “As a long-time executive in EdTech, I’m excited to help future APUS students achieve their educational goals.”
Cumberbatch served as Founder, President and CEO of ECS Learning Systems from 2017 to 2020, an EdTech solutions provider. Prior to that, he was Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President at Stride, Inc. (formerly K12, Inc.), where he focused on expansion into career readiness and education technology solutions. Before that, he was Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of ACT Inc., a non-profit leader in college and career readiness assessment. While there, he collaborated on the development of the digital ACT test and the launch of ACT Aspire.
His earlier experience includes high-profile roles as a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Corporation, where he ran its Consumer and Education growth segments. Prior to that, he was a Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble, focusing on Europe and Latin America markets. Cumberbatch has also held leadership positions with start-ups including Imagitas and SimpleTuition.
Cumberbatch has a Bachelor’s Degree (Honors, First Class) in Computing and Economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury (UK), and a Master’s Degree in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He currently lives in Iowa with his family.
About American Public University System
American Public University System (APUS) delivers accessible and affordable online higher
education to adult learners of all backgrounds. APUS, a five-time recipient of Online Learning Consortium's
(OLC) Effective Practice Award, offers more than 200 online degree and certificate programs through American
Public University as well as American Military University, the #1 provider of higher education to the U.S.
military and veterans*. With over 114,000 alumni worldwide, APUS is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
(HLC). It is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Public Education, Inc. (Nasdaq: APEI). For more information, visit www.apus.edu.
*Based on FY 2019 Department of Defense tuition assistance and Veterans Administration student enrollment data, as reported by Military Times, 2020.
