Bob Regan is the Senior Director of Education at Gates Ventures. Based in Seattle, Bob divides his time between building products, advising other education efforts, and thinking about the future of education. His efforts include leading the Big History Project and the World History Project. Each combines a set of free, online materials for teaching history with a vibrant community of teachers using these courses used in more than 3,500 schools across the US and Australia.
Bob began his career in the classroom as a teacher of math, French, and technology in Chicago and New York City schools. Bob earned a Master’s in Elementary Education from Columbia University Teachers College where he focused his research on performance assessment. From his first days in the classroom, he expressed a deep passion for improving teaching and learning through the use of technology in schools. Bob went on to study education policy and technology at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison before focusing on software development full-time in 2000. At Macromedia, he oversaw product development for the Education and Government markets. He was instrumental in leading Macromedia’s Accessibility efforts, pioneering techniques in accessible rich media, and helping shape accessibility standards for people with disabilities around the globe. He was also heavily involved in building and shaping e-learning standards and advancing the concept of the Rich Internet Application. In 2005, Bob joined Adobe with the acquisition of Macromedia where he became the Director of Worldwide Primary and Secondary Education in 2007.
As Director of Worldwide Primary and Secondary Education at Adobe Systems, Bob led the marketing, product development, and business strategy for schools. This included a period of time when Adobe developed a massive partnership with the state of New South Wales, Australia around a ubiquitous deployment of creative tools for students and teachers. With Bob’s leadership, Adobe saw sustained growth in the education business through an exceedingly challenging economic climate.
Bob went on to join Pearson Education in 2011 as Director of Product Development. While at Pearson, Bob led the development of a new, tablet-based product focused on Common Core standards and founded a product innovation studio focused on teacher publishing and project-based learning.
Bob lives in San Francisco, CA with his amazing wife and two incredible daughters who inspire him each and every day.