From Scholastic’s home page. Image: Scholastic
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘A Growth-Oriented Finance Leader’
With its current chief financial officer, Ken Cleary, moving to his role as president of international, Scholastic today (January 8) has announced that Haji Glover will succeed Cleary as executive vice-president and CFO, effective January 22.
In August, we reported that Beth Polcari, the former president of international, was moving to handle the company’s educational programs, and that Cleary would be moving into the international role.
Glover, now named CFO by Scholastic president and CEO Peter Warwick, is making a return to the company.
He has most recently been Amazon’s director of finance for the People Experience and Technology division, a post he filled in September 2022. Before that, he was vice-president of corporate finance with Scholastic, between 2020 and 2022. He has previously worked with Lockheed Martin; Ford; Honeywell; and the Alvogen Group.
Peter Warwick
In making the announcement of Glover’s return, Warwick is quoted, saying, “After completing a robust search process, we’re pleased to appoint Haji Glover as Scholastic’s next CFO and key partner to me and the leadership team as we realize this company’s substantial long-term growth opportunity.
“Haji’s broad experience and proven track-record as a forward-looking, growth-oriented finance leader will be instrumental in driving growth and financial performance. As someone who knows Scholastic well, Haji is well positioned to drive change and impact here, using his experience and perspective.
Haji Glover
Glover, in making a prepared statement on his return to Scholastic, says, “Scholastic is in the midst of an exciting transformation that’s a testament to Peter and the team’s commitment to delivering results and shareholder value, while continuing to invest in the future of the company.
“I look forward to partnering with this talented leadership team to help plan and execute this multi-year journey, building on Scholastic’s strong position for years to come.”
Ken Cleary
Glover will be a member of the company’s executive committee, and is to head up financial reporting, planning, and analysis; controllership; tax; and treasury. He’s to focus on facilitating growth across Scholastic’s leading businesses while supporting the company’s long-term strategy and capital allocation priorities.
Glover’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Lehigh University and an MBA from Binghamton University.
Cleary, now moving to complete his transition to the international lead, was made CFO in 2017, having joined Scholastic in 2008.
His background includes work as director of accounting with US Shipping Corporation; as an assistant controller with Hertz; and as an assistant controller with BASF.
A Word About Our Coverage of Personnel Changes
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the key criterion for us to report news of a personnel change in book publishing has two components–a leadership position, usually c-class, and one with the potential to have significance to professionals in the international marketplace, which is the focus of our coverage.
We’re unable to report the full range of the personnel changes flagged to us daily from many parts of the world because of the breadth of the field and the number of personnel changes being announced daily.
More from Publishing Perspectives on children’s book publishing is here, and more on the work of Scholastic is here.