Our Company & Founders
DynEd International, Inc., has the world’s most comprehensive lineup of award-winning English Language Teaching (ELT/ESL) solutions.
DynEd’s courses cover all proficiency levels and include a range of age-appropriate courses, from kids in school to adults in university, corporate, aviation or other vocational settings. DynEd courses have been approved by Ministries of Education in several countries.
With over 13 million active users, DynEd courses are designed to be used in a blended learning environment, along with teachers and classroom support.
With sales and support offices around the world, DynEd’s headquarters and development center is located in Silicon Valley. Additional DynEd development centers are strategically located in Beijing and Jakarta.
For a representative in your area, or to become a partner, please contact us.
Our Founders
Lance Knowles:
Previously held the DynEd posts of CEO, President, Chairman of the Board.
With more than 30 years experience in English language education, Lance co-founded DynEd International in 1987 with DynEd’s chief technology architect, Douglas Crane. Together, they earned a patent for the features at the root of their interface design and proprietary authoring tools. Lance also developed the breakthrough learning theory: Recursive Hierarchical Recognition (RHR).
Lance had expertise and extensive experience in the development and use of Technology-Assisted Language Learning products and systems. He led the design and development of DynEd’s 25+ award-winning, language-acquisition products and tests. Used in over 60 countries worldwide by millions of students, his pioneering courses have been approved by national Ministries of Education — including France, China, Mongolia, Turkey, and Malaysia.
A frequent speaker, textbook author, and former director of the Language Institute of Japan (1979-86), Lance led teacher-training seminars for more than 30 years and in more than 30 countries.
Lance passed away peacefully at home with his family on December 23, 2017 after a battle with brain cancer.
Douglas Crane:
Is DynEd’s Senior VP Engineering, Board Member and previously held the post of Chairman of the Board.
In 1987, Doug created the custom authoring language in which all DynEd courses are still written. Over the years, Doug and his team have expanded the tools and applications to run on all major platforms as technologies have changed. Along with the DynEd engine, Doug also created the Records Manager, a sophisticated tool for teachers and administrators to monitor their students and classes. Key to both apps is a scoring system that enables teachers and administrators to accurately indicate a student’s study progress. Doug and Lance were issued a joint patent on the DynEd system. Doug has been intimately involved with everything related to engineering from the client apps on all 4 platforms, to the back-end, web apps, databases, deployment and international hosting.
Doug has been on the exec team since DynEd’s inception and has been involved in all projects including courseware authoring, certification and analytics. Doug’s work has won awards for DynEd, but more importantly empowered millions of users worldwide by providing a system that not only functions well technically, but helps students become fluent in English in less than half the time when compared to students using a traditional approach.
Meet Our Team
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ian Adam is responsible for overall strategy and general management of DynEd. He has over forty years of experience in the computer industry, first as an IT professional and then in sales, marketing, business development, and executive management. He has worked for multinational companies including Citicorp, IBM, Olivetti, and Apple. With an extensive international business background he has conducted business in Asia, Europe, and throughout the Americas. He has lived and worked in the UK, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, and the United States. Prior to joining DynEd in 1996, Adam served as Acting General Manager responsible for the successful establishment of Apple Computer Inc.’s subsidiary in Brazil. Adam is currently driving DynEd’s global mobile strategy.
Chief Operating Officer
Prior to holding the Chief Operating Officer position, David Tipping oversaw DynEd’s global sales strategies, and global Client Engagement programs. Tipping has 35 years of experience in international education and private business throughout the Americas, Africa, and Europe. He developed many of DynEd’s training and support models that are being implemented around the world today. As a Project Manager for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Tipping had the opportunity over many years to develop technical training programs used for large refugee populations. He worked for UNHCR in both Central America and North East Africa.
Chief Financial Officer
Hoa Tran joined DynEd International, Inc. in 1994 after having served as Corporate Controller for A. M. Weiss, Inc. and Cash Manager for Komatsu America Corp. As CFO, he is responsible for the Administration and Finance areas of the company and its subsidiaries. He also serves as Company Secretary. Tran received his education from Cornell University, San Francisco State University, the Stockholm School of Economics, and the Leonard Stern School of Business at New York University.
Co-Founder, Senior Vice President, Engineering
Douglas Crane is responsible for directing the company’s research and development. He designed and programmed the proprietary authoring language and user interface for DynEd’s courseware, which runs on all major multimedia platforms today. Prior to co-founding DynEd,Crane developed award-winning programs for Picodyne Corporation, a pioneering educational software company. Crane holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education from Stanford University and is the co-holder of a multimedia patent.
Chief Technology Officer
Ken Tracton is responsible for establishing the company’s technology roadmap in support of its business vision. He oversees key engineering and technical engagements with multiple DynEd teams. Tracton studied for a PhD in mathematics at Concordia University. He holds 9 patents and has written more than a dozen books and manuals. Prior to joining DynEd International, Tracton actively managed the iOS Services Performance Team, including Siri at Apple Inc., was a Principal Research Leader at Nokia Research and later at Microsoft, and developed techniques to measure and harness processor performance at both MIPs and Intel.
Senior Director for Product Development
Dr. Andy Blasky is Senior Director for Product Development, responsible for directing the design and development of DynEd courseware and assessments. An English Language & Literature graduate of Princeton University (B.A.) and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.), he has taught in Japan and the United States and was editor of Cross Currents: An International Journal of English Language Teaching. Prior to joining DynEd, he was Director of the Language Institute for English at Dominican University, San Rafael, California. He is a frequent presenter at TESOL conferences and editor of several textbooks for English language learners. He has served on the Executive Board of the American Association of Intensive English Programs.
Careers at DynEd
At DynEd, we are committed to quality, career-focused learning led by passionate professionals who love what they do. We are a dynamic organization that believes in creating positive outcomes for instructors, educators, learners, employers, and schools. Contact us to learn more about these job opportunities and our Language Learning Solutions.