Our Team

Edward M. Fields

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Edward Fields has more than 20 years of experience developing and marketing educational technology and enterprise software solutions. Prior to founding HotChalk, Edward served as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Agile Software Corporation, President and CEO of ProductFactory, Inc. (a software firm he co-founded that was acquired by Agile Software in 2003), and Director of Interactive Publishing at The Learning Company. Edward has a bachelor’s in Mass Communications from the University of Denver.

Christopher M. Lynne

President and Chief Operating Officer

Chris Lynne has spent nearly 15 years in higher education, leading organizational growth and quality improvement initiatives. He comes to HotChalk from Northcentral University, a global online graduate university serving over 10,000 students, where he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating and Financial Officer. Under Chris’ leadership, Northcentral University enhanced the quality of its programs and student outcomes while achieving industry-leading growth. Chris also served in strategic roles at Education Management Corporation (EDMC) during a period of significant growth, including serving as Senior Vice President over Shared Services and Senior Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller. Earlier in his career, Chris was a manager with Arthur Andersen LLP in its Audit and Business Advisory Services group. Chris has an MBA from the Booth Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s in Accounting from Purdue University.

Nicholas Smith

Chief Learning Officer

Nicholas Smith has spent more than 25 years in education and technology. Most recently, he was President of Macmillan Labs for Higher Education, an R&D group dedicated to building innovative technology products that solve problems for students and teachers in elegant ways. Prior to joining Macmillan, Nicholas spent nine years at Aplia, a leading provider of online homework for higher education, where he helped to grow the company from start-up to profitability and finally to successful acquisition by Cengage Learning in 2007. Nicholas remained with Cengage Learning as Vice President of Software Products until 2009. His experience also includes work at SRI Consulting, Pensare, and Agile Mind, as well as a decade teaching middle school students. He earned his master’s at Brandeis University.

Joe Ross

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & Chief Legal Officer

Joe Ross has over 20 years of combined experience in business, education and public service. Since 2012, Joe has served in California as an elected trustee of the San Mateo County Board of Education. Prior to HotChalk, he was Vice President of Citizen Schools, an education nonprofit operating in seven states. Joe also managed international expansion for consumer products at Cisco Systems, and was Chief of Staff to the founding CEO of Pure Digital Technologies, the start-up that created Flip Video. During an eight-year military career, he served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for the fleet component of the U.S. Southern Command, and managed security cooperation programs in Latin America and Asia. A Truman Scholar and a fellow of the Truman National Security Project, Joe holds a bachelor’s in Political Science from Yale and a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was the 59th President of the Stanford Law Review.

Mark Zinselmeier

Senior Vice President, University Partnerships

Mark Zinselmeier has more than 15 years of experience in operations, customer service and call center management. Prior to joining HotChalk, Mark managed the national rollout of the Discovery Education streaming video service, reaching more than 70k U.S. K-12 schools. Mark has a bachelor’s in Radio, TV and Film from the University of Missouri.

Patty Lev

Vice President, Student Services

Patty Lev has more than 12 years of academic and student services experience. Prior to HotChalk, Patty served as Dean of Academic Affairs with Education Management Corporation (EDMC), and provided academic and student support leadership. Patty has served as a student service leader for both nonprofit universities, as well as for-profit colleges, helping them improve their student retention practices. She holds a master’s in Education with an emphasis in Counseling and Student Personnel from San Jose State University.

Academic Advisors

HotChalk’s academic advisors are highly educated and deeply experienced within their fields. We know a university’s academics, mission, and reputation are the foundational elements of its identity – that’s why our advisors serve as in-house client advocates and program leaders, focused on keeping the fidelity and integrity of our partners’ academic programs fully intact.

Meet the Academics

Board of Directors

HotChalk is led by a board of directors representing more than 100 years of combined experience in the technology, information, and education fields. This depth of knowledge and expertise guides us in our mission to help everyone, everywhere pursue their full academic potential.

Meet the Board