UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of January, 2005
PEARSON plc
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
N/A
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
80 Strand
London, England WC2R 0RL
44-20-7010-2000
(Address of principal executive office)
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Yes No X
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Report includes the following documents:
1. A press release from Pearson plc announcing Directorate Change
31 January 2005
Board change
Pearson announces that Peter Jovanovich, chief executive of Pearson Education
and a member of the board, has decided to go on long-term medical leave.
Peter took a leave of absence for medical reasons last year and underwent a
successful double lung transplant in March. He returned to work full-time in
autumn 2004, but regrettably other health problems have arisen.
Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, said:
"Peter is a giant in the education publishing industry and has been a central
figure in Pearson's transformation into the world's leading education company.
Following such a life-changing illness, his decision to step down is easy to
understand but hard to get used to. We will miss him terribly, but above all we
want him to have a healthy future."
Peter Jovanovich joined Pearson in 1997 to run Addison Wesley Longman - at that
time the world's sixth largest education company, with sales of GBP554 million
and profits of GBP61 million. Seven years and two major acquisitions later,
Pearson Education is the world leader with sales in 2003 of GBP2.5 billion and
profits of more than GBP300 million.
Peter Jovanovich said:
"For over 30 years, publishing has been my vocation, and it was difficult to
spend even a short time outside the industry. I now need to step back from the
responsibility of running a $4bn international company. I'm proud to have played
a part in building a business which faces excellent prospects over the next few
years."
Pearson Education's divisional presidents will now report direct to Marjorie
Scardino, as they did during Peter Jovanovich's leave of absence last year. They
are:
- Will Ethridge, President, Higher Education, International and
Professional
Will leads Pearson's $1 billion US Higher Education business, which has grown
ahead of its industry for six straight years, and Pearson's technology and
professional publishing operation. In 2003 he took additional responsibility for
Pearson's education operations outside the US, spanning publishing for school,
college and professional students and testing and software businesses, with
annual sales of approximately $1bn.
- Steve Dowling, President, School Companies
Steve leads Pearson's $2 billion School business. He is responsible for
Pearson's market-leading operations in US school publishing, testing and
software - which are increasingly offered as an integrated service for schools
and districts.
- George Werner, Chief financial and operations officer
George is responsible for all Pearson Education's finance and operations
activities including accounting, planning and budgeting, warehousing, logistics,
customer service, facilities, technology, manufacturing and inventory.
Marjorie Scardino said:
"In Will, Steve and George, we are very lucky to have three highly talented and
experienced leaders. In 2004 they delivered another strong year for Pearson
Education and prepared the business for rapid growth in 2005 and beyond."
For more information: Luke Swanson/ Charlotte Elston + 44 (0) 207 010 2310
Notes to editors:
Peter Jovanovich, 55, began his career in publishing in 1972 as a college sales
representative for Macmillan. He joined Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., in 1980
and ten years later was named president and CEO of HBJ (a position his father,
William, held from 1954 to 1989). In 1992 he became CEO of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
School Publishing and later president of McGraw-Hill's Educational and
Professional Group, overseeing school, college, professional and international
publishing.
In 1997, Peter was appointed chairman and CEO of Pearson's Addison Wesley
Longman. After Pearson purchased Simon & Schuster's educational and professional
businesses in 1998 and NCS in 2000, Peter led their successful integrations to
create the world's largest education company. Peter is chairman of the Board of
the Alfred Harcourt Foundation. He lives with his wife Robin, a newspaper
editor, in Rye, New York. They have two sons, Nicholas and William. Peter is a
graduate of Princeton University.
Will Ethridge, 52, began his career in publishing in 1975 as a sales
representative with Little, Brown & Company. He went on to hold editorial
positions at Little, Brown until 1986, when he joined Addison Wesley as
editor-in-chief of the Higher Education Business and Economics Division. In
1988, Will moved to Prentice Hall as director of marketing, and later held
executive level positions at Prentice Hall as director of editorial and
marketing of the College Division and president of Prentice Hall's engineering,
science and math and professional technology divisions.
In 1999, shortly after Pearson's purchase of Simon and Schuster Educational
Publishing, Will was appointed president of Pearson's newly formed Higher
Education and Professional Group. In this role, he oversaw the successful
integration of Pearson's higher education and technology publishing companies.
In 2003, he was given additional responsibility for Pearson Education's
international operations.
Steve Dowling, 56, has 35 years of publishing experience. It includes 12 years
in higher education publishing as a sales representative and editor for Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, after which he successively served as president of Academic
Press College Division, Academic Press (then, the largest US-based scientific
publisher), Holt Rinehart and Winston School Publishing, Videodiscovery, and
Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Division.
He joined Pearson in 1997 as president of the Addison Wesley Longman
International Group. He became president of the Pearson Education International
Group in 1998 when Pearson acquired Simon and Schuster's Educational and
Professional Publishing Group, doubling Pearson's international business. In
2002 he became executive vice president of Pearson Education, responsible for
long-term planning and acquisitions, and in 2003 he was appointed president of
Pearson School Companies.
George Werner, 50, joined Pearson Education in 1978 where he held several
corporate finance positions until becoming the business manager for the College
divisions in 1984. In 1992, he became the group business manager for the Higher
Education Group, and in 1998 his responsibilities were expanded to include
Pearson Education's professional publishing.
Prior to his current appointment, he was executive vice president, general
manager and chief operating officer of the Higher Education and Professional
Publishing Group, responsible for all financial, acquisition/integration and
strategic planning activities, and warehousing, customer service, technology,
digital assets, production, sales and marketing support functions.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
PEARSON plc
Date: 31 January 2005
By: /s/ STEPHEN JONES
-----------------------
Stephen Jones
Deputy Secretary