SEATTLE - December 10, 2007 - Giant Campus, the nationally recognized leader in technology education programs for youth and families, today announced that it hired Thad Westhusing as its vice president of products.
Westhusing will be instrumental in assessing the needs of Giant Campus' customers, partners and learners, and then delivering new and innovative products to effectively meet those demands. For more than 10 years, Westhusing led marketing teams at Microsoft, where he spearheaded product management and customer experience efforts for the MSN.com portal service. His key roles included the design, launch and management of new search, content and ecommerce services.
"My new position at Giant Campus marries two of my passions -- technology and education," Westhusing said. "I've devoted much of my career to making technology more accessible and user-friendly. At Giant Campus, I plan to continue the company's excellent track record of providing an extensive menu of products to help create, deliver and assess 21st century and technology skills."
In addition to his several positions with Microsoft -- most recently as director of customer experience for Windows Live Search services -- Westhusing worked seven years in the financial services industry, overseeing international banking relationships and retail branch operations. "Westhusing's impressive background in marrying technology with consumer needs makes him a perfect fit for Giant Campus, significantly increasing our abilities to develop 21st century skills in today's youth and adult markets," said Pete Findley, chief executive officer of Giant Campus. "Under Westhusing's direction, we'll be deploying next generation content as well as other key products to achieve our vision."
Along with a bachelor's degree in economics from Vanderbilt University, Westhusing has a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A volunteer for United Way, Seattle Works and Habit for Humanity, Westhusing has also served as an executive advisor for INROADS and Junior Achievement.
About Giant Campus
Giant Campus is an education and learning-experience company that empowers individuals with 21st century skills to help them to contribute and succeed in a global community. With more than 3 million learners worldwide, and an excess of 1 million hours of in-person instruction, Giant Campus is working to develop the most effective methodology for creating, delivering and assessing learning. The Giant Campus suite of online education and youth products is delivered in a variety of environments, including K-12 school classrooms, U.S. military installations, university-hosted summer computer programs, the federal government, private companies and online. Giant Campus is a four-time honoree of Washington CEO magazine's Best Companies to Work For award, winning top honors in 2000 and finishing in the Top 10 for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Giant Campus is also the winner of the Homestreet Bank's Small Business Spotlight Award for 2006. For more information, visit www.giantcampus.com.