McGraw Hill Names Bob Sallmann As CFO And David Cortese As Chief Digital Information Officer

By Amit Chowdhry • Mar 20, 2024

McGraw Hill has announced the appointment of two new executives to its senior leadership team. Bob Sallmann will join McGraw Hill as Chief Financial Officer on April 15th, overseeing the company’s global financial strategy. David Cortese will join McGraw Hill on April 8th for a newly created Chief Digital Information Officer role, overseeing the company’s digital platform development, information technology, and data analytics.

Sallmann succeeds Garet Guthrie – who will remain with McGraw Hill through April to help transition his responsibilities and complete fiscal year-end procedures. Along with overseeing McGraw Hill’s Digital Platform Group (DPG), Cortese will assume responsibility for the company’s Global Technology Services (GTS) group upon the retirement of Angelo DeGenaro at the end of the month. And Sallmann and Cortese will report to Simon Allen, CEO of McGraw Hill.

As Chief Financial Officer, Sallmann will be responsible for the financial management of McGraw Hill, including leading the Accounting, Finance, Internal Audit, Investor Relations, Tax, Treasury, Procurement, Real Estate, and Supply Chain teams, partnering across the company’s business units for driving the company’s financial performance. And Sallmann joins McGraw Hill with 20+ years of experience developing and implementing the financial and operational strategy for global organizations, focusing on growing enterprise value and leading business transformation across various industries.

Sallmann previously held CFO roles at Laird Connectivity, a leading wireless technology manufacturer, and Enbi Group, a global elastomer manufacturer. Before Enbi, Sallmann held various financial leadership roles at IDEX, a global diversified industrial manufacturer, after spending ten years in consulting, advisory, and financial audit roles at Alvarez & Marsal and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

As Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO), Cortese will oversee McGraw Hill’s digital experience and innovation strategy, including IT, customer experience, digital product management and engineering, cybersecurity, AI, and data, analytics, and insights. With 30+ years of experience in various technology and operational leadership roles, Cortese joins McGraw Hill from Influential, where he served as Chief Digital Officer, overseeing enterprise product and engineering teams and AI solutions for a leading influencer marketing firm. And Cortese also served as Chief Commercial Officer at Simbe Robotics, where he led product development for Simbe’s AI-driven subscription data services and various technology leadership roles at companies like Advantage Solutions, ComScore, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Accenture.

KEY QUOTE:

“I’m very pleased to welcome Bob and David to our leadership team in two critical roles that will help continue to position McGraw Hill for long-term growth. They both bring a unique perspective, wide breadth of experience and a shared desire to drive innovative solutions that will strengthen our ability to meet the changing needs of the educators and students we serve.”

“I’d like to thank Garet and Angelo for their tremendous contributions to McGraw Hill over the past decade. Their vision, drive and passion for our mission has been instrumental in moving our business forward during a period of significant transformation in education – and the strong foundation they have built will enable our continued success. I am especially grateful for their leadership and commitment to executing a successful transition from Apollo to Platinum Equity ownership and the market-leading growth across our company since that time.”

– Simon Allen