# Jeff Shelstad

> Jeff Shelstad is an education publishing executive, Flat World Knowledge co-founder and former CEO, and lead for higher education OER at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. His career spans conventional publishing, an experiment in openly licensed textbooks, education leadership, and advising founders.

- **Role:** Lead, Higher Education OER at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company
- **Organizations:** Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, Flat World Knowledge / FlatWorld (co-founder and former CEO), Pearson / Prentice Hall (former executive), McGraw-Hill (former publishing executive), Capella University (former vice president and general manager), Reflection Sciences (former CEO), UnboundEd (board member), University of Minnesota Venture Center (business advisory group), Minnesota Cup (judge and mentor)
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree; exact degree title not confirmed in the interview, University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management, Executive MBA, Duke University - Fuqua School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded an early commercial publisher of professionally developed, openly licensed college textbooks., Helped develop a model combining free online access, paid formats, and institutional licensing., Published detailed founder retrospectives on the business’s products and strategic choices.

## Career timeline

- **1987** — Graduated from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
- **Before 2007** — Held editorial and management roles at McGraw-Hill and Pearson / Prentice Hall.
- **2004** — Completed an executive MBA at Duke.
- **2007** — Left Pearson with Eric Frank and co-founded Flat World Knowledge.
- **2009** — Flat World launched its first textbooks for public use.
- **2012** — Flat World announced the end of free online textbook access, effective January 2013.
- **2013** — Departed Flat World; his January 2016 article dates his departure to May 2013.
- **After Flat World** — Held leadership roles at Capella University and Reflection Sciences.
- **2014** — Began judging and mentoring for Minnesota Cup, according to his public profile.
- **2016** — Published a series of reflections on products, fundraising, and decisions at Flat World.
- **2017** — Began serving on the University of Minnesota Venture Center business advisory group, according to his public profile.
- **2026** — Listed as Kendall Hunt’s higher education OER lead and an UnboundEd board member.

## Achievements

- Co-founded an early commercial publisher of professionally developed, openly licensed college textbooks.
- Helped develop a model combining free online access, paid formats, and institutional licensing.
- Published detailed founder retrospectives on the business’s products and strategic choices.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — His LinkedIn profile dates the start of his UnboundEd board service to June 2026; UnboundEd’s people page independently lists him on its board.
- **2026-10** — Research checked in October 2026: UnboundEd identifies him as Lead, Higher Education OER at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffshelstad

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeff-shelstad
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11