Robert E Knowling Jr

Bob Knowling is currently the Chairman of Eagles Landing Partners. ELP specializes in helping senior management formulate strategy, lead organizational transformations, and re-engineering businesses. ELP serves as an advisor to chief executive officers. He was formerly with Telwares (formerly Vercuity), a leading telecommunications expense management provider. Prior to joining Telwares, Bob was chief executive officer of the NYC Leadership Academy, an independent non-profit corporation created by Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and chartered with developing the next generation of principals in the New York City public school system. He was previously Chairman and CEO of SimDesk Technologies (formerly Internet Access Technologies), and prior to that he served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Covad, a leading national DSL provider. He began his career in 1977 at Indiana Bell, and when the company became a part of Ameritech, he assumed positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, product development, large business marketing and network operations. He was assigned to Ameritech's re-engineering breakthrough development team in 1992, and was named Vice President of Network Operations in 1994. Bob then joined U S WEST in March 1996 as Vice President of Network Operations. In 1997 he was named Executive Vice President of Operations and Technologies, responsible for a 30,000-member team serving more than 25 million customers in 14 states. He has received numerous business and community service awards, and has been featured in such publications as Forbes, The Industry Standard, and Fast Company. In Dec. 1999, he was named Business Week's "Entrepreneur of the Year." Bob currently serves on the board of directors for Ariba in Sunnyvale, California, where he is the lead director; Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois; Bartech in Livonia, Michigan; and Roper Industries in Sarasota, Florida. Knowling has been a YMCA volunteer for more than 20 years and served as chair of the National Services group for the YMCA in 1993. He maintains an active nationwide corporate and public speaking schedule. Bob received a B.A. in Theology from Wabash College in 1977 and an MBA from Northwestern University in 1996. He and his wife and their four children make their home in Centennial, CO. Bob is a member of the 2001 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.