Blackboard Appoints Peter Repetti as New CFO; Software Industry Veteran Joins Leading e-Education Company.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2001

Today, Blackboard Inc., the leading Internet infrastructure software company for e-Education, announced that Peter Repetti has joined the company as chief financial officer. Repetti will oversee all of the company's financial and administrative groups, including finance, accounting, facilities and information technology. Repetti will also serve on the company's executive management team.

Repetti comes to Blackboard from WebOS, where he served as CFO. Prior to joining WebOS, Repetti spent five years at Manugistics Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MANU), where he served most recently as senior vice president and CFO. At Manugistics, Repetti was responsible for the entire finance organization, as well as for developing the corporate strategy and executing the company's operational plan. He successfully negotiated and managed five acquisitions at Manugistics, developed and facilitated the financial planning process, managed revenue growth from $38 million to $175 million and was responsible for leading the company's $65 million secondary offering. During his tenure, Repetti oversaw employee growth from 250 to 1,300 and market capitalization growth from $150 million to $2 billion.

"We are pleased to add a finance executive of Pete's caliber to our executive management team," said Michael Chasen, CEO of Blackboard Inc. "Pete's blend of financial expertise, M&A experience and operational planning are critical assets and will be integral to the continued success of the company as we move towards our goal of becoming a very profitable company within the next year."

"I am delighted to have joined such a great organization in the fast-paced and competitive e-Education environment," said Repetti. "It is truly exciting to join a private company experiencing such explosive financial growth as Blackboard. Our company's accelerated expansion into new strategic markets and internationally, coupled with our core business, will provide us with tremendous opportunities in the coming years."

Prior to joining Manugistics, Repetti worked at US Airways, Inc. (NYSE: U) serving in several financial positions, most recently as the director of financial planning. At US Airways, Repetti was responsible for financial and strategic planning of the $7 billion commercial airline.

Repetti has also worked for Flow General, Inc. as deputy director of finance and administration. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. where he served as senior accountant. Repetti holds a MBA from the University of Chicago and a BBA from The George Washington University.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for teaching and learning. The company offers a complete suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total "e-Education Infrastructure" for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers. Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled student services and back office systems.

Blackboard's two major lines of business, Course & Portal Solutions and Commerce & Access Solutions, are consistently ranked by industry analysts as the market share and customer satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the Internet's most popular consumer education sites. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff across North America, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.blackboard.com for more information.