Kaj Pedersen

Chairman of The Board at Urbana Software

Kaj Pedersen brings proven executive management and computer engineering experience, as well as a long-standing passion for educational reform through entrepreneurship. Joining the company in 2001, he was formerly VP and general manager for Terra Lycos' finance units, Quote.com, Raging Bull and Small Business. Pedersen helped grow this vertical's annual revenues by 20 percent to $30 million in 2001, while maintaining his initial role as VP of engineering when he joined Quote.com in 1998. Previously, he was director of investment information systems at GT Global for four years and, before that, the IS network coordinator for Cargill Financial Markets in London.

From 1998-2001, Pedersen served on the Board of Advisors of KnowledgeFirst, which formerly provided an online marketplacefor students, parents and educational lenders to streamline financing of higher education. In the late 80's, his advocacy of educational reform led him to promote development of a new U.K. national curriculum that included two of his chief concerns: greater accountability for teachers and improved critical thinking skills. He also served on the Board of Governors for Cheltenham and Wolverhampton primary schools in England from 1989 to 1992.

Kaj graduated with honors in Computer Science from The Polytechnic, Wolverhampton and he is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society. He holds an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix.