Michael Hansen Named CEO of Harcourt Assessment

SAN ANTONIO, July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Harcourt Education announced today the appointment of Michael Hansen as President and CEO of its San Antonio- based testing unit, Harcourt Assessment. Mr. Hansen will report to Harcourt Education Global CEO, Pat Tierney and will join Harcourt on August 14, 2006.

Mr. Hansen most recently served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development for Bertelsmann AG, where he led a dramatic turn-around in performance and profitability for the company's lowest-performing business units. Previously he served as Senior Vice President, International Operations for Proxicom, a media and service company, which he helped transform from a start-up business to a profitable, professionally managed service firm. Prior to that, he was Vice President & Director, Co-chairman: e-business & Media Practice for The Boston Consulting Group, where he built the firm's most successful global business line in a two year period.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Tierney said, "Michael's track record speaks for itself. He has demonstrated throughout his career a strong ability to lead people and organizations successfully through major transformations, and he has consistently delivered on the bottom line. I am confident that he will quickly set Harcourt Assessment on a successful path in the growing testing market."

"I am excited to be joining Harcourt Assessment at a time when educators are seeing a growing role for assessment, not just to measure student achievement but also to inform and drive instruction," Mr. Hansen said. "I see many great opportunities for the company in the burgeoning market for educational and clinical assessments and look forward to working with customers to provide innovative, high-quality solutions."

About Harcourt Education

Harcourt Education is a global education provider serving students and teachers in PreK through grade 12, adult learners, and readers of all ages. The Harcourt companies are: Harcourt School Publishers; Holt, Rinehart and Winston; Harcourt Achieve, Professional and Trade (including Harcourt Achieve, Harcourt Trade, Greenwood-Heinemann, Global Library, and Classroom Connect); Harcourt Assessment; and Harcourt Education International. For further information, please visit http://www.harcourt.com/.

Harcourt Education is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. It is owned equally by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV .