Ralph Protisk
Now in his 21st year as a search professional, Ralph Protsik has established BSG as the preeminent boutique executive search firm in the for-profit education industry, with a track record that includes more than 250 senior-level searches for companies big and small, public and private, at the VP level and above.
His industry expertise comprises the full spectrum of education markets—K-12, postsecondary, corporate, and consumer—and products and services that include distance learning, SES and EMO, administrative and curricular technology solutions, assessment, teacher professional development, for-profit college and K-12 operations, postsecondary educational technology, online enabling services, and corporate training. Clients have gone public, merged, been acquired, raised and invested capital, grown through acquisition, and, with most, thrived under strong leadership. He has also done more than a dozen searches in for not-for-profit organizations in the education sector.
Ralph’s commitment to the industry also goes beyond executive search. As sponsor and panelist for such industry events as the ASU GSV Summit; Capital Roundtable’s Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies; APSCU's Education Industry Finance and Investment Institute and Senior Executive Management Seminar; and the SIIA Ed Tech Industry Summit, he has remained persistent in the belief that competence as a service provider begins with knowledge of an industry's people, companies, niches, and trends.
After more than 20 years in operations roles for John Wiley & Sons, Pearson Education, Xerox, and his own educational publishing firm, P.S. Associates, Ralph joined industry-leading search firm Management Recruiters International (MRI) in 1994. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1994, and was a top 10 biller in each of his next three years at MRI before leaving to co-found BSG Team Ventures. In 2011 he moved to San Francisco to establish a West Coast presence for BSG.
In his after hours Ralph teaches wine courses and writes drivel. His collection, Shaggy Dog Limericks: A Cat Owner's Guide to Familiar Dog Breeds, is a best seller within his network of family and friends. He recently served as Managing Editor of his Class Reunion Book (Our Stories), with co-editors Bob Woodward and John Schenck, for which he was honored by his class.
Ralph has his B.S. in Biology from Yale University. He spent a memorable year as a graduate student in Duke University's primate laboratory. They are still recovering.
