When Wally Boston (MBA ’78 ) became president and CEO of American Public University System in 2004, he realized it was time to go back to school.
Wally Boston (MBA ’78) is president and CEO of American Public University System, one of the nation’s largest online learning companies.
At the time, APUS was experiencing growing pains. As a provider of online learning programs for more than 2,000 students, the company was dealing with a thorny course design issue: The majority of students still had dial-up modems, making it difficult to access the increasing number of courses utilizing videos. As Boston dug into this and other issues, he sought out ways to help him become a better university president.
“One of my board members said, ‘There is a program designed for people in higher education,’” Boston recalls.
Boston enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania, eventually earning an EdD in higher education management. The program gave him a better understanding of student services and many other aspects of online education, but that focus on learning was nothing new for Boston. A native of Princess Anne, Md., Boston grew up the oldest of four children in a home that stressed the value of learning. Reading took priority over TV time.
The eager student became a career executive. After earning his undergraduate degree in history from Duke University and his MBA from the Freeman School, Boston helped lead a succession of companies including Meridian Healthcare, Manor Healthcare, Neighborcare Pharmacies and, ultimately, Sun Healthcare Group.
“I was hired to get Sun Healthcare Group out of bankruptcy,” Boston says. “It was a one-year assignment. Then someone else comes in with a new team. I wanted to get into an industry less focused on cost and regulation.”
Boston found just that industry with APUS, a for-profit educational provider that had been founded in 1991 as American Military University. Since joining the company as executive vice president and CFO in 2002, Boston has helped grow APUS into one of the nation’s leading online learning companies, with 100,000 students and nearly 100 degree programs. Those offerings include liberal arts, professional programs, a degree program in homeland security and a program in intelligence studies for students who work within government agencies.
Boston embraces the need to stay aware of student needs without getting too far ahead
of himself.
“One thing I have learned about technology is if you are on the very edge of innovation, it is costly and frustrating because you are constantly evolving,” he says. “So we stay on top of trends without being on the edge of it.”
When Boston sees graduates in person at APUS’ annual commencement ceremony in
Washington D.C., he says it reminds him of the role education — and Tulane University — played in his life.
“I was a liberal arts undergraduate and had no business background other than summer jobs when I entered the MBA program at Tulane in the ’70s,” says Boston. “Dr. Stephen Zeff told me ‘Accountants don’t lose their jobs in a recession.’ I gained a great deal of respect for business and marketing at Tulane. Every academic bit of business knowledge came from Tulane.”
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