Founders of CES

Collegiate Enterprise Solutions, LLC (CES) was founded by George J. Matthews, Bryan E. Carlson, and William D. Abbott in 2002; at which time, CES also acquired the Registry for College and University Presidents, established in 1992. From the time of its founding, CES has been actively managed by George J. Matthews and Bryan E. Carlson. During the period from 2003 through 2009, CES expanded by over 500%; in 2010, CES grew by an additional 35%; and this trajectory of impressive qualitative and quantitative growth continues to be sustained through the present.

• George J. Matthews served as a Trustee at Northeastern University from 1978 through 1999, and was Chairman of the Board for his last 10 years of service. As the current Chairman Emeritus, he is the University's senior advisor to the Board Chair and the President. A well-known entrepreneur, he has been instrumental in founding over thirty business ventures. In addition to serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CES, he is currently the Chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation of North America, which he founded with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail S. Gorbachev; he serves on the Executive Committee of the Club of Madrid, a twenty five person international resource center for the support of democratic states, located in Madrid, Spain; Senior Fellow at The Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies at Trinity College of Oxford University, U.K.
   
• Bryan E. Carlson served as President of Mount Ida College from 1976 through 1999, and led that institution through an extraordinary period of financial growth, enrollment expansion, and academic transformation. Mount Ida expanded from a small junior college into the premier two-plus-two baccalaureate institution in the northeast. From 1999-2000, Dr. Carlson served as President of the New England Exchange for Executive Leadership (NEXEL); and from 2000-2002, as President of College Bound Selection Service (CBSS). Since 2002, he has served as the President of CES and the Registry for College and University Presidents; and has also served as a Senior Consultant for R.H. Perry & Associates in Washington, D.C.
   
• William D. Abbott is the former President of Ricker College in Houlton, Maine. He was raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Milton Hershey School for Orphaned Boys. He eventually went on to earn four degrees including a doctorate from Boston University before assuming the presidency of Ricker College. Dr Abbott also served as Vice President of Administration for the Boston Breakers (USFL), and as Director of Criminal Justice Education for the Sheriff of New Orleans, Louisiana. After returning to New England, Dr. Abbott served as the Director of Development at Northeastern University, during which time he established the Executive Alumni Forum, which was an exclusive membership organization for over 300 CEOs who were alumni of Northeastern University.

CES National Headquarters Staff

George J. Matthews, Chairman and CEO
Bryan E. Carlson, President and COO
Kevin J. Matthews, Vice President
Amy Lauren Miller, Vice President
“Bun” A.P. Perkinson, Vice President
Holly Dellacanonica, Administrative Assistant