ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Symplicity Corporation, the leading education technology company for employability and student services, is pleased to announce that former President and CEO of Blackboard Inc., Michael Chasen, has joined its Board of Directors.

Chasen co-founded Blackboard Inc., a leading education technology solutions company, in 1997 and then served as its CEO from 2001 to 2012 and its President from 2004 to 2012. During his time at Blackboard, Chasen led the company through more than 20 mergers and acquisitions. After leaving Blackboard, Chasen co-founded the technology startup SocialRadar in 2013, where he served as President and CEO until the company was acquired by Verizon in 2016. In early 2017, Chasen became the new CEO for PrecisionHawk, which provides advanced commercial drone technologies and business intelligence services.

Forbes Magazine included Chasen in its list of “America’s 15 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under” in 2010, and he has received recognition from other organizations and publications including The Kilby International Awards Foundation, Ernst & Young and Washington SmartCEO magazine.

Chasen’s deep industry network and experience will help Symplicity create a truly global, data-driven employability and student services platform. Since being acquired by global private equity investment firm H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), Symplicity has refocused its product development on innovative solutions to better serve the needs of its higher education clients while focusing on creating a more efficient, targeted recruiting platform for Fortune 1000 employers.

“Symplicity will benefit immensely from Michael’s experience of having previously scaled an industry-leading education technology solutions provider both organically and through acquisitions. He could not have joined our Board at a better time as we plan to expand both domestically and abroad in 2017,” said Matt Small, Symplicity CEO and President.

“We are thrilled to add a proven industry executive to the Board who has the knowledge and resources to help accelerate Symplicity’s growth,” said Keval Patel, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital. “Michael’s experience with Blackboard, technology expertise, and relationships will prove invaluable as we transform Symplicity into a global employability and student services platform.”

About Symplicity Corporation

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Arlington, VA, Symplicity sells and supports SaaS-based solutions at over 1,200 higher education institutions that help manage all aspects of a student’s life on campus, including career services, academics, behavioral intervention, and student conduct. More than 400,000 active employers utilize the Company’s on-campus recruiting software to leverage the largest higher education job network in the U.S. and recruit students and alumni for entry-level jobs.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with $21 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.