Ellis E. Cousens To Join Wiley as Executive Vice President-Chief Financial and Operations Officer<br />William J. Pesce, President & Chief Executive Officer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced the appointment of Ellis E. Cousens as Wiley’s Executive Vice President-Chief Financial and Operations Officer. Mr. Cousens, who will assume his new position on March 19th, succeeds Robert D. Wilder, who is retiring. Mr. Cousens joins the company from Bookspan, where he is Senior Vice President & CFO.<br /><br />“Ellis is an excellent addition to Wiley’s leadership team. He is a strategic thinker with strong financial, analytical and communication skills. He is known as a collaborative business partner with a strong work ethic and bias for action. Ellis’ proven track record identifying, consummating, and integrating strategic acquisitions and alliances will be of tremendous value to us. I am confident Ellis will contribute significantly to Wiley’s success as we continue to strengthen our competitive position and increase shareholder value,” said Mr. Pesce.<br /><br />At Bookspan, Mr. Cousens has played a key role in structuring, negotiating, and launching the $800 million Time Warner/Bertelsmann partnership, which consists of Doubleday Direct, Inc. and the Book of the Month Club operations in the U.S. As CFO, he has been responsible for all financial and corporate development activities, including business integration opportunities and significant Internet investments. Previous to that position, Mr. Cousens served as Vice President & Global CFO of BOL.COM, a Bertelsmann unit. His prior background includes positions of increasing responsibility with Reader's Digest, PepsiCo, and Texaco.<br /><br />Mr. Cousens holds a M.B.A. in Finance from Iona College; a M.S. in Geology and Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and a B.A. in Geology and Math from Hunter College. 