Two former Harcourt executives have turned up at LeapFrog Enterprises. Dick Casabonne, most recently senior v-p of planning and business development for Harcourt, has been appointed president of LeapFrog's newly created Education & Training Group. Casabonne will be charged with developing an adult literacy and training division that will complement the company's existing LeapFrog SchoolHouse unit, which publishes pre-k through grade 12 supplementary materials. A LeapFrog spokesperson said the company hopes to have its first adult literacy materials on the market within the next six to 12 months.
Prior to being named to the planning position at Harcourt, Casabonne had been president of Steck-Vaughn, Harcourt's supplementary publisher. His successor at Steck-Vaughn, Richard Cox, has been named v-p of sales for LeapFrog SchoolHouse. Cox will report to Bob Lally, president of LeapFrog SchoolHouse. Lally will report to Casabonne.
Based in Emeryville, Calif., LeapFrog Enterprises was founded in 1995 by Michael Wood and has developed about 50 interactive learning products and 40 interactive books for the consumer market in addition to its educational literacy programs. The company, which has more than 250 employees, merged with Michael Milken's Knowledge Universe in 1997.
