Michael Hansen
Cengage Learning
San Diego, CA USA
"Confidence is success remembered. Focus on getting accomplishments that will build confidence in your ability to master any challenge that will come your way."
Career Roadmap
Michael's work combines: Education, Business, and Learning / Being Challenged
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Graduate Degree
Law
The University of Bonn, Germany
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
Columbia University in the City of New York
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Born and raised in Germany—grew up in a small town in an area often called “the Detroit of Germany.”
2.
Attended the University of Bonn in Germany where I received a master’s degree in law.
3.
Decided to immigrate to the U.S. and began living in New York City—attended Columbia University where I earned my Master of Business Administration degree.
4.
My first job out of school was at the Boston Consulting Group—ended up working there for 11 years and rose to become a partner and co-chairman of the company's e-business and media practice.
5.
Briefly worked as a senior vice president of international operations for Proxicom where I focused on e-business development.
6.
After leaving Proxicom, I began working at Bertelsmann—a German media corporation—serving as the executive vice president of operational excellence.
7.
I've also served as the CEO for Harcourt Assessment and Elsevier Health Sciences.
8.
As CEO of Cengage Learning, I've led the company through a crucial financial restructuring and overseen the development of a first-of-its-kind subscription service for learning materials.
Defining Moments
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
When I started at Cengage, the company was in very bad shape. They had lost focus on the students and were in debt. I had to lead them through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and clean up the balance sheet.