Randy Best

Randy Best has founded or acquired more than 100 privately or publicly held companies in a broad range of fields. Of those companies are Voyager Learning, which he co-founded and grew from a start-up to a successful education company, and Mason Best, a merchant banking firm which had offices in Texas and London. Best targeted business initiatives with a social mission that could have an enduring positive impact. This commitment resulted in his focus on education and strong interest in the welfare of children. In 2005 he turned to higher education and founded Whitney University System with the mission of providing high-quality, affordable, postsecondary education to the developing countries of Latin America. The next year he founded Academic Partnerships to help state universities increase access for underserved populations through innovative distance learning technologies. Academic Partnerships now serves state universities across North America.