Peter Warwick, a Scholastic board member since 2014, has been named president and CEO of the children’s book publishing and media company. Warwick, 69, succeeds Dick Robinson in those roles as of August 1. Robinson, Scholastic’s longtime chairman, president, and CEO, and the son of company founder Maurice Robinson, died in June.
Warwick will be the third CEO in Scholastic’s history, and the first from outside of the Robinson family to head the company. As CEO, Scholastic said, Warwick will be responsible for the publisher’s business strategy and overseeing all business segments and corporate functions.
In prepared remarks, Warwick promised to build on Robinson’s devotion to children’s literacy and education. “I am deeply committed to continuing to embrace these same principles going forward and build upon the core Scholastic mission while creating value for all of our stakeholders,” he said. “We will grow our business by continuing to create new and exciting content, developing educational programs in print and digital formats, and further strengthening our partnerships with children, parents, and educators around the world.”
In choosing Warwick to succeed Robinson, the Scholastic board cited his achievements as an executive with Thomson Reuters and Pearson. Warwick, the board said in a statement, has “the requisite experience and insights to deliver strong growth and financial performance at Scholastic.”
In addition to the appointment of Warwick, Scholastic added a new chair, naming Iole Lucchese to fill the third position that Robinson had held. Lucchese, who has been with Scholastic for 30 years, will continue to serve as executive v-p and chief strategy officer at Scholastic and president of Scholastic Entertainment. Lucchese began with the publisher at Scholastic Canada and, the company said, worked with Robinson “to advance the company’s strategic and creative initiatives across all operating units, including new product and program offerings, business transformation, and digital expansion, as well as overseeing the Company’s digital content and marketing initiatives and its expanding media activities.”
In a third appointment, Robert Dumont, who heads a New York–based boutique law firm specializing in tax and estate planning for international private clients, has been elected to the company board as designee of the Robinson family. Dumont fills the seat held by Andrew Hedden, who resigned from the board to make way for Dumont. Hedden continues to serve as Scholastic’s executive v-p, general counsel, and secretary.
The company stressed that the three three appointments will "ensure continuity" within Scholastic, and keep the Robinson family in control of the company.
