Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> April 14, 2002

Robert Knutson – Education Management Corporation (edmc)

ROBERT B. KNUTSON is a Founder, Chairman and CEO of Education Management Corporation, one of the largest private education systems in the United States, and a publicly owned company. EDMC's education institutions offer Doctoral, Master's, Bachelor's, Associate's and non-degree programs at 42 primary campus locations in 26 major cities in North America, with a total enrollment of approximately 44,000 students as of fall 2002. The company's two principal operating divisions are The Art Institutes and Argosy University. Academic programs are concentrated in the creative and applied arts, behavioral sciences and education fields. Mr. Knutson is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BA with honors in Economics, 1956). He became President of EDMC in 1971, and Chairman, President and CEO in 1986. He formerly was a Vice President with J. P. Morgan in New York, and a Vice President with Drexel Harriman Ripley, New York. He served as a fighter pilot with the United States Air Force from 1957 to 1962. Mr. Knutson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and WQED Pittsburgh. He is a past Chairman of the Pittsburgh Chapter, Young Presidents Organization. Mr. Knutson has testified on several occasions before Congressional and other national committees on subjects concerning higher education policy and has been featured in a numerous media articles. Profile
TWST: Can you give us a brief overview of the history and evolution of

Education Management Corporation?

Mr. Knutson: EDMC's education institutions are known for our academic

programs in the