Mark Chernis

Mark Chernis is 2U's Chief Operating Officer. Prior to becoming COO, Chernis served as a Board member and the audit committee chair at 2U for nearly a decade. He stepped down from 2U's Board in order to take on his role as corporate COO. As COO, he leads more than 3,000 2U employees in the marketing, technology, content development, data science, student engagement, and corporate development teams. He was instrumental in the acquisitions and integration of Trilogy Education and edX.org.

Chernis joined 2U in 2018 from Pearson, a global education company with employees in more than 80 countries, where he held several positions including Chief Operating Officer of PowerSchool and Senior Vice President of strategic partnerships and investments. Prior to Pearson, Chernis served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Schoolnet, which at the time of its acquisition by Pearson, was the leading provider of instructional management software serving hundreds of school districts across the United States.

Before Schoolnet, Chernis was with Princeton Review serving as its President. During his 24-year career at The Princeton Review, Chernis either held or oversaw key leadership positions in nearly every sector of the Company, including technology, marketing, product development and overseeing each of Princeton Review’s three operating divisions.

Over the years, Chernis has orchestrated dozens of corporate acquisitions, corporate venture investments, and has sat on corporate boards – including Tutor.com, Schoolnet, 2U, Noodle Companies, New Globe Schools, and Keypath Education.

Chernis attended Vassar College and now lives in Bedford, NY where he was a three times publicly elected member of the Board of Education for the Bedford Central School District.