Executive Leadership

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s mission is to change people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. Meet the HMH executives who are leading the charge.

John "Jack" J. Lynch, Jr.

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Jack LynchJack joined HMH in 2017 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, bringing with him extensive background in the K-12 education and technology space. Prior to HMH, Jack was the CEO at Renaissance Learning, a leader in K-12 learning analytics, owned by Hellman & Friedman and Google Capital. With over 25 years of management experience in the software and information industry, Jack is highly respected in the field of education technology. He has been active in the K-12 education industry since 1999 and was the founding CEO of bigchalk.com, where he created an education network serving 40,000 schools. He was later president and CEO of the Pearson Technology Group. Prior to joining Renaissance Learning, Jack was a member of the executive board of Wolters Kluwer. Jack holds a bachelor of arts from Boston University and was honored with the 2016 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for his leadership.


Joe Abbott

Chief Financial Officer

Joe AbbottJoe joined HMH from Morgan Stanley where as an investment banker in the Global Media and Communications Group he led the firm’s advisory of clients in the education content and information services sectors. He has been involved in many of the most important transactions within the education sector over the last decade and brings a diverse combination of strategic, financial and investor relations expertise. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Abbott served as an officer in the United States Navy where he held leadership roles aboard a ballistic missile submarine and as an assistant professor of Naval Science at Northwestern University. He received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy.


William Bayers

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Bill BayersBill joined Houghton Mifflin in May of 2007 as Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel and was made Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel in March 2008. Previously, he served as Vice President and General Counsel of Harcourt Education Group. Bill oversees all legal, regulatory and corporate matters for the Company. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.




Ellen Archer

President, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing

Ellen ArcherEllen joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as President of HMH Trade Publishing in December 2015, with responsibility for driving the strategic growth and expansion of the Company’s consumer publishing business. An experienced leader in publishing, consumer brands and multimedia, Archer spent 15 years at The Disney ABC Television Group. For five years she was President and Publisher of Hyperion Books, then a division of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for building the company's digital business, spearheading cross-platform initiatives, and releasing over 100 New York Times bestsellers. Ellen serves on the Foundation Board of New York Women in Communications and is a member of The Women’s Forum of New York and Golden Seeds, an early stage investment firm with a focus on women leaders. She holds a BA in English Literature from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.


Vicki Boyd

Senior Vice President and General Manager, Heinemann

Vicki BoydVicki was promoted to SVP and General Manager of Heinemann – the leading publisher of professional books and resources for K-12 educators – in 2015. Vicki joined Heinemann in 2003 as the Director of Professional Development. In this role, she repositioned Heinemann PD from a sideline business to an integral and key part of Heinemann Publishing. She has been a passionate advocate for children and teachers throughout her career – first as a counselor for students with special needs, then as the Special Assistant for Education Policy in the administration of New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen. Vicki holds an MS in Management from Antioch University New England and a BA in Humanities from the University of Texas.


Marianne Congdon-Hohman

Interim Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Marianne Congdon-HohmanMarianne has served as Interim SVP of Human Resources since December 2016. She is responsible for HR strategy and policy, including talent management and acquisition, organizational design and employee benefits. Previously she served as VP and Associate General Counsel, where she partnered with and advised HR and business leaders on domestic and international employment-related legal issues. Marianne has also played an instrumental role on multiple business acquisition teams, including for HMH’s 2015 acquisition of Scholastic’s Educational Technology and Services division. Prior to joining HMH’s Legal department in 2009, Marianne was an Associate in the Employment & Labor Group at Sidley Austin LLP. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. Marianne holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in International Relations, also from U of M.


Mary Cullinane

Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, Product Planning, Development and Marketing

Mary CullinaneMary is HMH’s first Chief Content Officer. She has led the transformation of the company’s content development capability, bringing a unique combination of education and business experience. Prior to joining HMH in 2012, Mary spent ten years spearheading Microsoft′s education-related innovation programs and initiatives worldwide, including its national 1:1 access programs and its groundbreaking School of the Future in Philadelphia. With another decade of experience as an educator, Director of Technology and administrator in the public sector, Mary is a recognized thought leader in the area of education reform and the effective use of technology. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, and co- authored the book What Next?, which documents lessons learned during the building of the School of the Future. Mary holds a Master of Public Policy and Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from The College of New Jersey. Mary is a member of the board of the Boston Children's Museum.


Martin Davy

Chief Platform Architect and Executive Vice President, Engineering

Martin DavyMartin joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2016 as HMH’s first-ever Chief Platform Architect and Executive Vice President of Engineering. With over 20 years of experience in design, development and delivery of industry-leading distributed applications, Martin is responsible for all of HMH’s platform development, and provides engineering leadership throughout the organization. Prior to joining HMH, Martin was Vice President of Worldwide Product Engineering for software company Pegasystems, where he led the engineering and development operations aspects of the Pega platform. Previously Martin held a variety of technology leadership roles, including Senior Vice President for Fidelity Investments’ Asset Management division. Martin holds a Master of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.


Rose Else-Mitchell

Executive Vice President, Professional Services

EVP, Professional Services Rose Else-MitchellRose joined HMH as part of the Company’s acquisition of Scholastic’s Educational Technology and Services business in May 2015. Now as EVP of Professional Services, Rose leads HMH’s newly formed Professional Services division, which combines all of the Company's services offerings into a single, industry-leading Professional Services organization. Most recently at Scholastic, Rose was Executive Vice President of K-12 US & Global Product Development, responsible for the company’s edtech product strategy and development. Rose joined Scholastic in 2000 and held several positions within the company in her 15 year tenure, including Senior Vice President and Publisher and Vice President of Professional Services. Rose began her career as an English teacher for middle and high school. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Sydney in Australia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oxford, U.K. Rose is a Board member of the Institute of Play, based in New York City.


Kristen Duffy Lavelle

Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Customer Experience

Kristen joined Harcourt as Director of Supply Chain in 2006 focusing on process improvement, supply chain analytics, strategic sourcing, supplier management, and business systems enablement. In 2007, she was promoted to Vice President of Supply Chain and Indirect Procurement following Houghton Mifflin’s acquisition of Harcourt. Since that time, Kristen’s responsibilities have broadened to include HMH’s global operations and customer experience including supply chain planning, strategic sourcing and procurement, customer experience, distribution, scoring center operations and overall operational excellence across HMH. Prior to joining HMH, Kristen held various positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and a startup focused on eProcurement systems. Kristen holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, is a Certified Public Accountant and a Girl Scout Volunteer and has sat on the Board of the Wisconsin International School.


Lee Ramsayer

Executive Vice President, Global Sales

Lee RamsayerBefore joining HMH, Lee served as Senior Vice President of sales for Monster’s Government Solutions sector. While at Monster, Lee built a dedicated sales team that addressed workforce and economic development in regional economies, and also drove change management and new strategy development sales and system integration partnerships. Prior to Monster, Lee served as General Manager, Government Sales and Consulting Services for Microsoft. In this role, Lee led the development of Microsoft’s strategic approach to state and local governments including the development of go-to-market strategies. Lee currently serves on the board of Innovate Education, a national organization focused on STEM education.