Stephen Shank founded Capella Education Company, the parent company of Capella University, in 1991, and served as CEO of the company until his 2009 retirement. He retired as the chairman of Capella Education Company in 2010, a position he held since the company went public in 2006. He remains on the company's board of directors. Prior to founding Capella, Shank served for 12 years as chairman and chief executive officer of Tonka Corporation. During this time, The Wall Street Transcript twice recognized Shank as the industry's most outstanding chief executive officer. Shank began his career as an attorney with the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa, a Master of Arts from The Fletcher School, a joint program of Tufts and Harvard Universities, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.