About Us - Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Corporate Site (2024)

Under the leadership of Jorge Cauz, Britannica and Merriam-Webster have been transformed from iconic print brands into two of the world’s largest and most trusted digital media platforms, serving a global audience of more than 150 million monthly users.

In pre-K to 12 education, Jorge has led the development of curriculum solutions that transform student and teacher experiences in classrooms around the world. For casual and lifelong learners, Jorge has expanded Britannica’s and Merriam-Webster’s roles as providers of trusted information and built interactive experiences that educate, challenge, and delight—greatly expanding the company’s audience and revenue.

Jorge also served as chairman of the board of the sister company, Britannica Knowledge Systems, a global leader in mission-critical training services.

Jorge holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management and an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. Jorge and his partner live in Chicago, frequently traveling to New York City, Milan, and Mexico City to visit family.

Greg Barlow oversees Merriam-Webster, America’s leading provider of language information. He also oversees the consumer business for Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Greg has more than 20 years of digital-media experience. His prior roles include leadership positions at The Wall Street Journal and Time Inc., managing director at North Equity, and CEO of Constructive Media.

Greg was formerly SVP & Chief Marketing Officer at Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, where he oversaw the global consumer group.

In his free time Greg loves spending time with his family and working on his Harley.

Tracy Grant is editor in chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica. As the company’s top editor, she supervises Britannica’s editorial and media staff and oversees the expansion and maintenance of multiple information and media databases for lifelong and K–16 learners worldwide.

Before joining Britannica, Tracy had a distinguished career at The Washington Post, holding several editorial positions, including the newspaper’s first Web editor, and finishing her tenure there as managing editor for staff development and standards.

Tracy is a regular speaker at journalism conferences. Her television appearances have included NBC and PBS. She began her journalism career in Florida where she worked as an editor at the Miami Herald. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Doug oversees Britannica’s global legal and human resources activities, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, litigation, privacy matters, regulatory compliance, employee engagement, intellectual property, and brand protection. Doug serves on Britannica’s leadership team and joined Britannica as General Counsel in 2014. Also, as corporate secretary, Doug is responsible for all corporate governance matters and serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and the company.

Doug brings more than 20 years of experience representing both publicly reporting and private entities in transactional, finance and litigation matters. Before joining Britannica, Doug was the assistant general counsel at the private equity backed Solo Cup Company and started his career at the international law firm Mayer Brown, where he represented a wide variety of clients in transactional, litigation and intellectual property matters.

Doug holds a B.S. in engineering from Boston University and a law degree from John Marshall Law School, where he graduated summa cum laude and first in his class.

Steve oversees Britannica and Merriam-Webster’s financial operations, including financial analysis, accounting, and strategic partnership activities.

Steve brings more than 25 years of finance, capital markets, and strategic planning expertise to Britannica. He began his career in investment banking, eventually focusing on the financial technology sector, where he served as CFO of the Chicago Stock Exchange and CFO and CEO of Spot Trading. Steve holds a J.D.-M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University.

Udi Hazan directs Melingo, a trailblazing subsidiary of Britannica that specializes in cutting-edge solutions powered by AI and natural-language processing.

Melingo offers a range of unique language solutions, as well as enterprise solutions for data retrieval insights that leverage the latest advancements in computational linguistics and AI engines across multiple languages.

Udi has more than 15 years’ of experience leading global business and technology teams. He’s a seasoned expert in developing and marketing innovative technologies in the learning and artificial intelligence fields.

Udi is eager to apply his knowledge and expertise to help Melingo and Britannica continue to deliver groundbreaking solutions that meet the evolving needs of their clients and customers

Udi holds a B.A. in Business and Information Technologies. When he’s not busy driving Melingo, he enjoys exploring the world, spending quality time with his family, and staying active through sports and other activities.

Sal De Spirito is the Executive Vice President of Britannica Education and responsible for managing the business portfolios for pre-K to 12 education and higher ed across global markets.

Under Sal’s leadership, Britannica Education has expanded its footprint globally with transformative products and services in the classroom and through professional development. Sal has rebuilt the salesforce, led product, sales, and marketing strategies to expedite the launch of instructional solutions for Science, Social Studies, and ELL, working closely with schools, school districts and governments. Additionally, he launched new initiatives to expand our service offerings for professional development.

Sal has more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in publishing, training, and education managing large teams. He previously spent nine years at Rodale, transforming the Online Books Division from a $0.5M to $50M in annual revenue during his tenure.

Sal loves to travel, live an active, healthy lifestyle, and is an avid soccer fan. He lives on the East Coast, south of Philadelphia, with his wife, son, and daughter.

Caroline is an experienced executive with 25+ years of high-level business development, building strategic partnerships and supporting education reform at a global level. Her key focus is developing digitization initiatives for governments across the globe. Passionate about education, Caroline works alongside ministers of education and heads of state to create and fund new ways for children to learn.

Caroline’s career spans all educational sectors: K–12, TVET, and Academic, B2B and B2C. Leading a strong development and sales team from our London office, Caroline also holds the position of Executive Vice President for Britannica International as well Managing Director for the EMEA region.

Caroline is a passionate, curious lifelong learner and was a finalist for the Global Leaders 2020 EdTech Digest Award. She is focused on the creation of positive and successful long-term relationships, constantly striving to ensure that the divisions of the business realize their true potential and value.

Caroline lives in one of the oldest villages in Surrey, the site of the Henry VIII hunting lodge Nonsuch Palace, constructed in the mid-16th century.

Joan oversees the development of instructional and reference products for Britannica’s Educational division. Focusing on high-quality, engaging solutions for the classroom and library, she leads the Product, Instructional Content, and Creative groups in developing effective solutions that support teachers and drive student success. During her time at Britannica her teams have created dynamic products that improve student learning and help teachers succeed.

Joan brings more than 25 years of experience developing award-winning products for the classroom. She began her career as a teacher before focusing on educational technology and product development. She lives in New York with her husband and children.

Miles leads the product teams for Merriam-Webster and the Britannica consumer group, finding new ways to engage, inform, and enrich a global audience.

In previous roles, Miles created digital products and strategy for Constructive Media, Time Inc., Condé Nast, and The New York Times. Miles has a B.A. in American Studies from Yale and a Master’s from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. He lives with his wife and two kids in New York City.

J.E. works with an editorial team that explains a vast range of topics to lifelong learners and students. He is responsible for ensuring that this content meets Britannica’s standards for clarity, accuracy, and fairness. Under his guidance, this team has expanded the ways that Britannica reaches its global audience, from reference articles to photo essays.

J.E. has more than 20 years of experience with Britannica across numerous editorial roles. He holds a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and an M.A. in English from the University of Chicago. He lives in Chicago.

Chris has been with Britannica since 2008, helping to shepherd the brands into the digital space by building out the advertising infrastructure across its suite of websites and apps. Today, Chris leads the consumer advertising and subscription teams, focused on providing a variety of free and subscription products to support students, families, and lifelong learners in the pursuit of knowledge and inspiration.

Prior to his time at Britannica, Chris spent 10 years at Zacks Investment Research, managing advertising operations and helping to build out a network of financial websites focused on educating the public on investing and financial responsibility.

Chris has a B.A. in English from Vanderbilt University. He lives outside of Chicago with his wife and three daughters.

For 25 years, Ted’s portfolio at Britannica has included a wide range of editorial and business-development initiatives.

After managing the editorial team for a number of years, he moved on to development and PR work. He has brokered editorial partnerships for Britannica with leading scholars, publishers, universities, and libraries around the world; worked on a variety of PR initiatives; and organized contributions to Britannica from a wide assortment of high-profile experts, from Nobel scholars and U.S. presidents to Hall of Fame athletes and TV and film stars.

He has also represented the company through extensive broadcast appearances in the U.S. and abroad, appearing on the NBC TODAY Show (multiple times), CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, Fox News radio and television, NPR’s All Things Considered, and BBC Radio. For Britannica’s historic 250th anniversary in 2018, he also edited the Encyclopædia Britannica Anniversary Edition: 250 Years of Excellence (1768–2018).

The father of three adult kids, he works from Scottsdale, AZ.

A Britannica veteran of more than 20 years, Kunal directs technology strategy for the whole organization. His focus includes technology infrastructure, Web security, search engine optimization, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Kunal led Britannica’s SEO strategy, which increased search traffic twelvefold during the last ten years. He leverages his broad understanding of various aspects of the business to define the organization’s data analytics strategy, which provides critical data informing its planning and growth. Kunal is also actively managing the AI/ML activities to assist the editorial and product teams with cutting-edge technologies.

Kunal started his career as a scientist and has also worked at Morningstar, Inc., as head of technology, content, & media. He is the author of several college-level textbooks and holds a Ph.D. in AI & machine learning from the University of Illinois Chicago. Kunal lives in Chicago with his wife, dividing his time between his work and his art practice.