Ms. Melander is a software industry executive with more than 20 years experience in the consulting, education, and operations divisions of multi-national software companies. She has in-depth knowledge of educational technologies, e-business software, technology architecture, large database systems, and internet-based applications. Ms. Melander recently won the "Teaching with Technology Award" at American University for her creative and innovative use of technology in the classroom. Her teaching focus is collaboration & social software including blogs, wikis, and many other Web2.0 technologies.
Previously, Ms. Melander was Senior Global Director for Higher Education Strategy and Programs at Microsoft Corporation. Ms. Melander joined Microsoft to provide the thought leadership needed to drive Microsoft's strategy in this important area. She was responsible for designing and developing global programs for post-secondary education and engaging directly with education leaders and influential organizations.
Before joining Microsoft, Ms. Melander spent 16 years at Oracle Corporation. During this time, she held a variety of positions in consulting, education, sales, and operations. She was Vice President for Oracle's ThinkQuest program where she oversaw all aspects of the project including partner management, product development, operations, and support. Prior to her role with ThinkQuest, she directed the international roll-out of the Think.com collaborative environment and implemented the Oracle Academic Initiative for Higher Ed in the US, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. As part of the Education Initiatives team, she also helped design, develop, and deploy the Workforce Development Program and the Oracle Internet Academy.
Previously at Oracle, Ms. Melander was a Managing Principal where she managed consulting efforts utilizing many Oracle products including Oracle6 and Oracle7; horizontal and vertical business applications; and business intelligence, multimedia and development tools. Ms. Melander documented her application development experiences in a book entitled "Guide to Oracle" published by McGraw-Hill.
Ms. Melander received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from West Chester University, a Master of Science degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in information technology from George Mason University. Ms. Melander has a patent in the area of Information Retrieval.
