Reston-based Ellucian names chief product officer

Stephen Laster previously worked for McGraw-Hill Education and Harvard Business School.

Published January 10, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Reston-based higher education software company Ellucian has named Stephen Laster as its chief product officer, the company announced Friday.

Ellucian provides products for higher education such as student information systems, data analytics tools and graduation-tracking platforms for more than 2,700 customers. Laster will lead product direction and strategy and oversee the research and development organizations.

Laster most recently worked for online college Penn Foster College, where he was the chief digital and learning officer. He also has worked for McGraw-Hill Education, Harvard Business School and Babson College.

“Stephen is both a practitioner and visionary who brings a deep understanding of the education industry and the opportunities and challenges it faces to Ellucian,” Ellucian CEO Laura Ipsen said in a statement.

Laster earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College.