Tony Lucki, who heads up Harcourt Education's elhi and trade operations in the U.S., intends to resign from the company in order to "pursue employment with Houghton Mifflin," according to a memo to Harcourt employees from Pat Tierney, CEO of Harcourt Education's global operation. The timing of Lucki's departure will depend on when negotiations regarding contractual issues surrounding his resignation are resolved.
An HM spokesperson had no comment on whether the company has struck a deal with Lucki, although the publisher has made it clear that it is seeking a new CEO with a background in educational publishing to succeed Hans Gieske, who resigned earlier this month. Harcourt's elhi operation is larger than HM's school unit, although HM has a larger trade division than Harcourt and also has a large college division, an area where Harcourt has no presence.
In his memo to employees, Tierney said that effective immediately, he will open an office in Harcourt's Orlando, Fla., headquarters to help "assure an orderly transition" until a successor for Lucki is found. Tierney, who is based in New York, joined Harcourt at the beginning of the year from the Thomson Corp. where he had been head of Thomson Financial. Harcourt is owned by Reed Elsevier, parent company of PW. Tierney closed his note to employees by observing, "I recognize the marketplace environment remains challenging, but believe we can all be proud of the strong progress we are making."
