Management

Executive Biographies

David Foster, Ph.D.
Chairman and CEO

A psychologist, psychometrician and recognized luminary in the measurement industry, Foster is credited with introducing computerized adaptive testing and simulation-based performance testing as part of Novell’s IT pioneering certification program. Following his tenure with Novell, he co-founded Galton Technologies, which was acquired by Thomson Learning in 2002.

He is a past President of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) and currently serves on ATP’s Conference Program Committee. He is also active in the International Test Commission, the certification accreditation committee for the American National Standards Institute and the GMAC Technical Advisory Board. He is also a member of the National Council for Measurement in Education and the American Educational Research Association. He is the author of a monthly column for Certification Magazine and serves on the magazine’s editorial board. Foster holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Brigham Young University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Florida State University.

John Fremer, Ph.D.
President

John Fremer has 40 years of experience in the field of test publishing and test program development and revision, including management level positions at Educational Testing Service and The Psychological Corporation/Harcourt.

In his 35-year career at Educational Testing Service, Fremer led the ETS component of the team that carried out a major revision of the SAT. Fremer also served as Director of Exercise Development for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and was Director of Test Development for School, Professional, and Higher Education Programs. During 2000-2003, Fremer designed and delivered measurement training programs to international audiences for the ETS Global Institute.

Fremer is a Past President of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and a former editor of the NCME journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. Fremer also served as President of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) and the Association for Assessment in Counseling (AAC). He was co-chair of the Joint Committee on Testing Practices (JCTP) and of the JCTP work group that developed the testing-industry-wide Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education; one of the most frequently cited documents in the field of educational measurement. Fremer is a co-editor of Computer-Based Testing: Building the Foundations for Future Assessments, (2002, Erlbaum.) and author of “Why use tests and assessments?” in the 2004 book, Measuring Up: Assessment Issues for Teachers, Counselors, and Administrators.

Fremer has been a frequent presenter and writer on issues related to test development, testing standards, training measurement professionals, communicating about testing to various audiences, developing state and national testing programs, trends in testing, and test security.

John has a B.A. from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude, and a Ph.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he studied with Robert L. Thorndike and Walter MacGinitie.

Dennis Maynes
Chief Scientist

Maynes’ current interests and emphasis are in the development and usage of testing models to test for change and aberrant patterns. He is also actively pursuing applied research in optimal sequential model selection for pattern recognition. He specializes in linear and non-linear modeling using regression, neural networks, and sequential models. He employed his skills during tenures at Wicat Systems and Wicat Education Institute, Intel, and Fonix, a speech recognition company. Maynes holds a Master’s Degree in statistics from Brigham Young University.

Don Sorensen
Vice President of Marketing

Don has spent the last 20 years in strategic marketing, advertising and business development. At Caveon he directs the marketing and client development programs and is responsible for the "Cheating in the News" newsletter delivered to over 7,500 testing professionals and academics. Prior to his responsibilities at Caveon he held management positions at various traditional and interactive advertising agencies. He spent a number of years in high-tech marketing and was Director of Partner Marketing for Novell and Director of Electronic Publishing & New Media Development at WordPerfect Corporation. Don holds a degree in Communications from Brigham Young University. Don was the Marketing Chair for the Association of Test Publishers and on various committees for NOCA.

Jerry Christensen
Co-Founder

A veteran business and marketing professional, Christensen co-founded Galton Technologies and served as Vice President of Corporate Development for five years until Galton was acquired by Thomson Learning in 2002. Prior to founding Galton, he spent a decade pioneering the training, testing and certification programs at Novell Inc. where he served as Vice President of Marketing. Christensen’s tenure at Novell was marked by innovative training and certification programs, which continue to be emulated as standards in the industry. He has also served as Assistant Vice President for ALPS and an International Market Researcher for IBM in the early 1980s. Christensen holds an MBA in international marketing and has lived and worked abroad in Denmark, Belgium and Germany at various stages of his career. Jerry has been an officer on various boards of directors and co-founded multiple testing industry associations.

Cyndy Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Co-Founder

A veteran psychometrician and business professional in the testing industry, Fitzgerald is recognized for her pivotal role in building Microsoft’s Certified Professional program as well as for her contribution in pioneering alternative item formats and simulation-based performance testing. Prior to her ten-year career at Microsoft, Fitzgerald had over a decade of consulting and teaching experience in the field of test design and analysis. Her more than 17 years of experience developing tests has earned her industry-wide recognition for her efforts to promote standards and the appropriate use of technology in the development of computer-based tests.

She was President of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) for the fiscal year 2002-2003 and served on ATP’s Board of Directors from 1999-2003. Fitzgerald spearheaded ATP’s development of “Guidelines for Computer Based Testing” and has been a major contributor to their last four national conferences. Fitzgerald spent last year serving on the Editorial Board for Certification Magazine and on the Board of Directors for the Performance Testing Council. She is a frequent presenter at conferences such as NCME, AEA and ATP. Fitzgerald holds a Ph.D. in Applied Measurement and Statistics from Southern Illinois University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of NewYork at Stony Brook.