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– On Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer of K12 Inc., Ron Packard, received the James P. Boyle Entrepreneurial Leadership Award at the annual Education Industry Association (EIA) conference in Orlando, FL.

The award is given to an individual whose achievements in the for-profit education industry serve as a guidepost for others starting and building entrepreneurial education endeavors, and who exemplifies the characteristics James P. Boyle represented, such as courage and perseverance with an end to improving educational opportunities for children.

Todd Parchman, member of the EIA Board of Directors and sponsor of the James P. Boyle award, said, “Ron Packard saw a need that was not being met in education, created a vision for meeting it, and built a great company to make it reality. Ron has dedicated himself to serving students and teachers. His integrity, energy, intellect and relentless devotion to quality embody the characteristics of James P. Boyle.”

James P. Boyle was an educator-entrepreneur who founded Ombudsman Educational Services in 1975 and became a leader and role model for the emerging education services industry. In 1990, he helped found the Association of Educators in Private Practice (AEPP), which was renamed the Education Industry Association in 2002.

The Education Industry Association, with over 800 corporate and individual members, is the leading professional association for private providers of education services, suppliers and other private organizations who are stakeholders in education.

Prior to starting K12 Inc. in 1999, Ron Packard worked for McKinsey & Company as well as for Goldman Sachs in mergers and acquisitions. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Mechanical Engineering (with honors) from the University of California at Berkeley. As a Hughes scholar, he spent his undergraduate summers writing an image-processing language. He holds an M.B.A. (with honors) from the University of Chicago.