Brian Jacobs, Ph.D., Founder & President of Akademos

As a professor at Cornell University in 1999, Brian Jacobs experienced first-hand the inefficiencies of the textbook industry and consequent excessive costs of course materials. He also saw that the Internet provided an extraordinary means to address these inefficiencies. His idea of a textbook marketplace was implemented in 2002, and he continues to provide the management expertise and creative direction for the company in a rapidly evolving industry. Brian, who published an academic book with Cambridge University Press in 2003,has been awarded fellowships from Cornell, Yale, University of Göttingen, and the Mellon Foundation. He holds a BA degree from SUNY Albany, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.