Our Team

Deceased August 26, 2007

Alice Garside was born in 1909 and received her B.A. from Vassar College and her Masters of Education from Boston University. She was the Reading Supervisor for the Language Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. Edwin Cole for over 20 years and was internationally known for her work in learning disabilities. Alice was also a long time reading consultant to the Carroll School in Lincoln, MA.

The 1987 recipient of the Samuel T. Orton Award, Mrs. Garside served Lexia Learning Systems as a reading consultant from its inception in 1984, and as a member of the Lexia Board of Directors, including Director Emerita for many years. Alice maintained a keen interest in Lexia’s products and corporate progress until well into her 90’s. Like Dr. Cole, Alice inspired us all at Lexia.

Dr. Hook was awarded her Ph.D. in Learning Disabilities by Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Disorders, where she completed her doctoral dissertation in reading and metalinguistic awareness. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she received her M.A.T. from Harvard University in Reading and is certified in elementary education and reading. Dr. Hook has extensive expertise in language arts curriculum development and learning disabilities. She is currently Associate Professor at the Institute for Health Professionals at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Jones received her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Arizona, as well as an M.S. degree in Education of the Deaf, and an undergraduate degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Dr. Jones is the Program Coordinator for the HILL and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the Institute.

Dr. Marsh received her doctorate in Education Administration from Boston University and her Sc.M. in Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders from Lesley College. Dr. Marsh has over 20 years of classroom experience and is the former Education Director at the Carroll School in Lincoln, MA and at the Commonwealth School, Boston.

Ms. Weiss-Kapp is a speech-language pathologist, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Language Laboratory in the Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is the President, CEO, and developer of the Wisnia Kapp Reading Program (WKRP), which addresses the needs of children who have language-based learning difficulties.

Isabel Wesley has an M.Ed. in Special Education from Boston University and is a Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. Isabel is currently a private educational consultant specializing in reading disabilities.

Bob Lemire, the father of a child diagnosed with developmental dyslexia, founded Lexia Learning Systems in 1984. His son’s struggle with reading moved him to create a reading intervention program accessible to everyone, no matter one’s personal or financial resources. Bob kicked off his efforts by teaming up with a technology expert and developing a computer program at a time when computers were still in their infancy. Today, what began as one man’s attempt to help children with reading problems has turned into one of the nation’s most well known and respected developer of reading software programs. Bob’s primary current responsibility involves speaking directly with educators, parents and others to help them choose the right Lexia product to help others strengthen their reading and cognitive skills.

As President and CEO, Nick brings to Lexia deep industry experience in both the software and educational publishing worlds. Known for his ability to apply strong general management and leadership skills with a focus on growth, Nick has successfully guided companies through successful transactions, and leveraged his skills in sales and marketing to launch numerous product lines and distribution channels. The education industry veteran began his career at Pitzer College, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology with a focus on early childhood development, and then continued on to earn his Masters at Boston University’s School of Management. Prior to joining Lexia in 2005, Nick served as President of Educators Publishing Service, Inc. (EPS), a publisher of literacy solutions for the K – 8 market. Prior to his tenure at EPS, Nick held various sales and marketing positions at Vertigo Development Group, Lotus Development Corporation, and New England Business Service. Nick is a member of the Board of the Massachusetts branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Robert McCabe has been with Lexia since May 2001. His responsibilities include: collaborating with Lexia’s principal academic consultants to design and implement rigorous studies measuring the efficacy of Lexia software, as well as, coordinating the efforts of various company departments involved in product design, development, and testing. He has extensive experience working in school-based settings with teachers, technical staff, reading specialists, administrators, and students. His field work has led to the collection of large data samples using scientific methods to measure the outcomes associated with Lexia software use. His observations and analysis have led to new insights into the performance of Lexia products, as well as enhanced training methods, new product features, and the development and publication of journal articles.

Mr. McCabe has a B.A. from Harvard College and a M.Ed. from the University of Kansas.

Joel Brown has worked in the high technology industry since 1986, and in 2001 fulfilled a lifelong goal by joining the education sector at Lexia.

Prior to joining Lexia, Joel was the Vice President of International Sales at Terra Lycos, developing the Internet portal across 4 continents, much as he now helps develop the use of Lexia in schools around the world. In addition, he has worked at Boston.com and at Verizon, opening the telecom company’s first Polish office in Warsaw.

He has been a featured speaker at industry conferences including Closing the Gap, the New York Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, and numerous Internet events.

Joel is an avid hockey fan and player, and lives in Massachusetts with his wife Colleen, their 2 children, and dog Sabey.

Paul More is responsible for Lexia’s finance and administrative functions. He joined the company in January 2001 and brings over 12 years of financial management experience. Before Lexia, he built infrastructure and managed finances for several Boston-area start-up companies, including a predecessor to iRobot Corporation.

Paul began his career on Wall Street in the mid-1980s before obtaining an MBA from Boston University and a masters degree in accounting from Northeastern. Paul holds a B.A. degree in English from Vassar College.

Rob brings strong experience in both product development and web-based software delivery to Lexia. He has over 20 years of experience in software engineering design, development and management. Prior to joining Lexia, he was Director of Software Development at VFA in Boston where he led the product development teams for all of VFA’s award-winning capital planning and asset management products.

Prior to VFA, Rob served in several senior engineering roles at companies including Sybase and Powersoft. Rob has a BS in in Computer Science and Psychology from Allegheny College and a MA in Computer Science from Brandeis University.

Rob has two children attending public elementary schools in Massachusetts.

Paget Hetherington’s 22-year career has been focused on helping children to learn. Paget began her career working for Dorling Kindersley as their US and Canadian sales director selling children’s books to publishers. She then went on to market and sell to many other countries around the world, both children’s books and educational software. After 11 years with Dorling Kindersley, Paget moved to Vivendi Universal Publishing in Paris where she successfully launched and marketed their interactive children’s publishing program across Europe. In 2002, after Houghton Mifflin was purchased by Vivendi Universal Publishing, Paget relocated from Paris to Boston to help HM’s supplemental textbook division, Great Source, enter the electronic publishing business. In 2004, Paget joined Soliloquy Learning where she was responsible for the launch of the sales and marketing of Soliloquy’s speech-recognition fluency program. Paget recently joined Lexia Learning and is Director of Marketing.

Paget has a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. She attended the University of Cambridge, Churchill College during her Junior Year, as well as the Sorbonne. Paget lived in Europe for 14 years and speaks fluent French.

Paget has 2 young children and 4 teenage stepchildren —all attending public schools in Massachusetts.

Jill Salter Plump brings over 20 years of experience in software development, educational publishing, and customer support to Lexia. Jill began her career at Lotus Development Corp., where she worked on their flagship products Lotus 123 and Symphony. She spent several years at Vertigo Development Group, where she successfully delivered several interactive software titles for The Learning Company and Houghton Mifflin. In 1998, Jill teamed up with three colleagues and founded Event Zero, a company that specialized in designing and developing web-based applications. At Educators Publishing Service (EPS), Jill helped launch Lesson Logic, an online library of skill-based lessons for K-6 educators. While at EPS, Jill also managed and developed a team of educational support specialists.

Jill has B.A. in Biology from Middlebury College and a M.B.A. from Boston University.

Peter brings 25 years of experience designing and supporting technology solutions at a wide variety of companies in the Boston area. His experience includes supporting both internal and web-based infrastructures that require scalability and reliability. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional with over 10 years of experience designing and securing web-based infrastructures.

Prior to joining Lexia, Peter has held the senior IT position at several professional services organizations and worked as a consultant at Deloitte and Touche. Peter holds a BA from Harvard University.

Peter and his wife Calie have three children attending public school in Massachusetts.

Over his career, Daniel S. Gregory Jr. has specialized in starting and building new companies and product lines. Dan has been involved in major new product launches; led and supported the introduction of new divisions within companies; held senior management positions at start-up companies; and was co-founder and CEO of an innovative educational publishing business that partnered scientific research institutes in the creation of hybrid print and online curricula.

Dan has held a succession of marketing, business development, strategic planning, and general management roles for companies competing in the publishing, e-learning, and business services markets. Dan has worked with most major publishing and content distribution media, including, magazines, newsletters, books, video, software, and, extensively over the last decade, the Internet. Increasingly, Dan’s work has focused on delivering customized educational and training content for individuals with specific professional or personal information needs.

Dan is a graduate of Wesleyan University (BA) and Harvard Business School (MBA). He lives in Weston, Ma. with his family.

Dr. Hook was awarded her Ph.D. in Learning Disabilities by Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Disorders, where she completed her doctoral dissertation in reading and metalinguistic awareness. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she received her M.A.T. from Harvard University in Reading and is certified in elementary education and reading. Dr. Hook has extensive expertise in language arts curriculum development and learning disabilities.

Dr. Hook is currently an Associate Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program at the Institute of Health Professions at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been interested in the relationship between spoken and written language throughout her career, particularly in individuals with disabilities. She has focused on the relationships of underlying processing skills and memory to reading acquisition. Her research includes efficacy studies on the use of computer programs to increase auditory processing skills and reading in children with dyslexia and nonverbal perceptual training for children who have visual/spatial difficulties as well as the perception and production of short vowels in dyslexic children.

Over the last 25 years, she has served as a consultant to public schools as well as schools for children with language/learning disabilities. Dr. Hook currently serves as Vice President for the Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Chip is Of Counsel to the Waltham-based law firm of Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton, P.C. which he co-founded in 1993. He ceased the active practice of law in 2004. While practicing, he represented public and private companies in wide range of business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, management buyouts, strategic alliances and joint ventures. He is presently engaged as a strategic advisor to a number of entrepreneurial companies with respect to business planning and raising capital. Chip is also a Member of the Corporation and former Trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a member of the Board of the Cape Cod Technology Council and of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay and serves as President of the Quissett Harbor Preservation Trust. He was graduated from Princeton University, served in the Navy and received his law degree from the Boston University School of Law. His former activities include serving as Chairman of the Board of a hospital, and Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of a bank. He lives in Woods Hole, Ma.

In a 40 year school career, Earl Oremus has served as an English teacher, writing instructor, reading tutor, language skills specialist, faculty trainer, curriculum designer, and as a school leader. Since receiving certification as an Orton-Gillingham Language Therapist from Massachusetts General Hospital in 1978 and a Masters degree from Harvard University in 1980, his work has centered on developing better classroom instruction to help nontraditional learners acquire academic skills. As the Headmaster of Marburn Academy (a school for dyslexic children in Columbus, Ohio) since 1987, Earl has become convinced that most academic “failure” is caused by the use of conventional teaching methods with unconventional learners.

Through his projects to establish computer-based writing labs in school settings during the 80’s, Earl saw that while the power of technology to improve learning is great, success depends heavily upon the school’s willingness to adapt curriculum, rethink pedagogy, and retrain teachers. The latter became the focus of his work at the Center For Applied Special Technology (CAST). Since then, Earl’s experience leading Marburn’s faculty through the trial of numerous software programs, with the effective integration of only a few, has deepened his interest in the issues teachers and administrators face when integrating technology with curriculum.

Earl conducts training workshops on learning differences, ADHD, and reading issues for approximately 20 faculty or parent groups annually; regularly presents at regional and national conferences; and has trained teachers and consulted on program design in over a hundred public and private schools in a dozen states. He is a 2 term past president of the Central Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, was a founding board member of the Columbus Scottish Rite Children’s Learning Center, and currently serves as president of the Learning Disabilities Network board.

Marlowe G.Teig is a retired Managing Director at Berkery, Noyes & Co., a full-service investment bank providing mergers and acquisitions management, asset valuation, and expert financial advice to the information, publishing, and communications industry.

Marlowe began his career as an editor in Prentice-Hall”s College Division, then spent 16 years with Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, where he held various senior management positions in its College, Elementary and Secondary Publishing divisions, and was elected a Vice President in 1975. He joined Houghton Mifflin Company as a Vice President and the Director of the School Division in 1980 and was elected Executive Vice President of its School Publishing Group in 1986. From 1987 to 1988, Marlowe was the Vice President for Educational Publishing at Macmillan.

From 1987 to 1988, Marlowe was the Vice President for Educational Publishing at Macmillan. Marlowe is a graduate of University of Michigan, and has been an active member of the Association of American Publishers. He and his wife Carole reside in Newton, Massachusetts.