Management Bios

Gary E. McCullough
President and Chief Executive Officer
Gary E. McCullough joined Career Education in March, 2007 as its President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining the company, Mr. McCullough served as president of Abbott Laboratories’ (NYSE) Ross Products Division, a world nutrition leader, where he was responsible for managing 5,300 employees and more than $2.6 billion in annual sales. Ross Products includes such widely recognized brands as Similac® and Isomil® infant formulas, along with the Ensure®, Glucerna®, and ZonePerfect™ lines of adult nutritionals.

Before joining Abbott, Mr. McCullough served as Senior Vice President-Americas, for the Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (NYSE) where he oversaw 3,300 employees and a $1.2 billion product portfolio. While in that position, Mr. McCullough was responsible for the successful re-launches of the Juicy Fruit, Doublemint Spearmint and Eclipse® brands, and for launching the Orbit® brand of chewing gum in the United States. Before joining Wrigley, Mr. McCullough spent thirteen years in progressively responsible brand and general management roles at Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble.

Mr. McCullough serves on several boards, including the Board of Directors of The Sherwin Williams Company (NYSE), where he also serves on the Audit Committee. In 2005, Mr. McCullough was named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the 75 Most Powerful African Americans in Business.

Mr. McCullough also served five years in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Captain. Among other achievements, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He holds a B.S. degree in business from Wright State University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Michael J. Graham
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mike Graham joined Career Education in September, 2007 as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Graham has served in several key financial positions in publicly-traded companies, including R.R. Donnelley, Sears Roebuck & Co., and Aegis Communications Group, where he was Chief Financial Officer. At R.R. Donnelley, a publicly-traded print and print-related services provider with annual revenues of approximately $10 billion, Mr. Graham served as Senior Vice President and Controller, managing a team of more than 100 professionals. He oversaw a range of functions including corporate and SEC accounting, corporate financial planning and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Mr. Graham was the Vice President and Controller at Sears, spent seven years at the Quaker Oats Company where he progressed through several financial positions, and seven years with Coopers & Lybrand in the audit practice. Most recently, Mr. Graham was the Chief Financial Officer of Terlato Wine Group, a privately held company that specializes in the marketing and production of luxury wines.

Mr. Graham holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a B.S.C. in accounting from DePaul University, and is a certified public accountant.

Jeffrey D. Ayers
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Jeffrey D. Ayers joined Career Education in December, 2007, as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Ayers is an experienced chief legal officer who has been a member of the executive teams of NYSE-listed companies.

Mr. Ayers has had significant compliance and transactional experience, having practiced law for more than 20 years in both law firms and corporations. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for NovaStar Financial in Kansas City, where he managed a staff of 35 and was responsible for all legal, regulatory, compliance and corporate governance issues.

Prior to joining NovaStar, Mr. Ayers was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at GE Insurance Solutions, where he was responsible for various legal functions at the $10 billion-plus unit of General Electric, including insurance regulatory issues worldwide, public securities filings and related Sarbanes Oxley compliance, financings and transactions.

Mr. Ayers earned his J.D., with high distinction, and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Iowa, and received his B.S. degree from Graceland University, summa cum laude, with majors in Computer Science and Mathematics.

Thomas G. Budlong
Senior Vice President Organization Effectiveness & Administration
Thomas G. Budlong joined Career Education in August, 2007 as its Senior Vice President of Organization Effectiveness & Administration. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Budlong served as Senior Director, Human Resources at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Mr. Budlong was a 23-year veteran of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., where he partnered with leaders throughout the world in creating and refining business plans and translating those aspirations into actionable HR strategies and operational focus areas. As Senior Director, Human Resources, Mr. Budlong was a key advisor to Wrigley’s executive leadership team on strategic, organizational and people-related matters impacting global commercial operations and corporate groups.

Mr. Budlong holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Dr. Donna L. Gray
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. Donna L. Gray has been with Career Education Corporation since 1996. Dr. Gray began her career as a high school teacher, and over the years has taught at the college level and served in several key administrative positions in both public and proprietary schools. Prior to her current position, Dr. Gray held various positions at CEC, including President of the International Academy of Design & Technology in Fairmont, West Virginia; Dean of Katherine Gibbs School in Boston, Massachusetts; and Vice President of Education for several CEC schools. As Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Gray is responsible for oversight of educational aspects of the company, including students, faculty and curriculum.

Dr. Gray holds a PhD in Information Technology Systems and Communications from Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh PA, an M.S. degree in Education and a B.S. in Business Administration from Robert Morris College, Pittsburgh PA.

George K. Grayeb
Senior Vice President
Health Strategic Business Unit
George K. Grayeb joined Career Education Corporation in 2005 and has served in several leadership positions at CEC, including Vice President and Managing Director of the Health Division and Vice-President and Managing Director of the Health East Division. Prior to joining CEC, Mr. Grayeb was Regional Vice President of Operations at Corinthian Colleges with responsibility for all operations including admissions, marketing, finance, compliance, academic and student outcomes. Previously, Mr. Grayeb was President of five campuses for American Education Centers, based in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, and was President of the three-campus Grand Rapids Educational Centers, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Mr. Grayeb holds an M.A. degree from the University of Denver and a B.A. degree from Anderson University.

Deborah Lenart
Senior Vice President
University Strategic Business Unit
Deborah (Deb) Lenart joined CEC in 2008. Ms. Lenart has amassed significant experience in various executive management positions within communications and media companies. During the course of her career, she has demonstrated intense focus on customer satisfaction and has led culture change initiatives. Most recently, Ms. Lenart was U.S. Segment Leader responsible for leading the Communications Service Provider industry for Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), a global information technology and applications outsourcing firm. Prior to her role at EDS, Ms. Lenart led several venture-backed start-up and turnaround portfolio companies as CEO of Callipso and Eziaz, as well as multi-billion dollar corporate divisions of Ameritech as President of Custom Business Services and President of New Media. Ms. Lenart has also led key legislative and regulatory policies with state and federal commissions, law makers and Congress. Her public policy experience includes providing testimony before both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on telecommunications and media regulatory issues.

Ms. Lenart holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University and a B.S. degree in marketing from the University of Illinois.

Leonard (Len) A. Mariani
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing & Admissions Officer
Leonard A. Mariani joined Career Education Corporation in October, 2007 as Chief Marketing & Admissions Officer. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Mariani served as Vice President at AT&T, Consumer and Small Business Markets. Over eight years with AT&T, Mr. Mariani served as a general manager of multiple products lines, and led large teams with responsibilities for strategy and portfolio management, business development, product and offer development, marketing and sales operations, and customer retention and loyalty programs. Prior to joining AT&T, Mr. Mariani held senior positions with the Bank of America, AIG, GE Capital and McKinsey & Company in general management, operations, marketing, business development and strategy. He began his career at General Electric (GE), where he held various positions in business marketing and sales management, sourcing and operations over a seven year period.

Mr. Mariani holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ty Roberts
Senior Vice President
Art and Design Strategic Business Unit
Ty Roberts joined CEC in 2008, from his post as Vice President for DeVry, Inc. where he led operations for DeVry’s online division and previously helped lead the turnaround at DeVry’s professional education division. He also served on the advisory board for DeVry’s leadership academy and strategic planning committee. In addition to his tenure in the education industry, Mr. Roberts has a strong background in marketing, business development and general management, domestically and internationally, with consumer product companies PepsiCo and Gallo. He began his career in product management with Nortel.

Mr. Roberts has a Masters in Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.S. degree in Operations Research and Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University.