Dynamic Literacy, LLC is committed to improving vocabulary, language, and reading comprehension for students through the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System. Based on frequently used Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes, the program is a collection of educational materials designed to communicate the structure of the English language to students from 2nd or 3rd grade through adulthood.

Our Team

Gerald V. Bailey, President & CEO

Jerry is one of the founders of the company, and has moved from Chief Information Officer to Chief Operating Officer to President & CEO. Prior to helping start Dynamic Literacy he had a long career as a systems designer. His favorite part of that was teaching database classes at the University of Virginia.

He took time out in 1997 to become the Interim Executive Director for Hospice of the Piedmont, and earlier held systems and management positons at CFA Institute. He is passionate about helping children avoid the "4th grade cliff" that sees so many students fall into an illiteracy hole they rarely escape.

Jerry holds a B.A. in History and Political Science. He was in graduate school when he first tripped over a computer cord and has been hooked ever since.

 

Thomas H. Estes, PhD, Author

Tom holds the distinction of Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia. From 1970 to 2001, he served as professor of Reading Education in the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. Previously he was a teacher of English at the high school level and worked as a reading specialist in an elementary school. Tom had the original idea that became WordBuild.

During his tenure at the University he was engaged in research related to how children learn to read, focusing on how they acquire the ability to read for the purpose of learning. In December 1988, he received the Albert J. Kingston Award of the National Reading Conference in recognition of his outstanding service to the organization and profession.

He is author of Reading and Learning in the Content Classroom, 2nd edition (1985) and Reading and Reasoning Beyond the Primary Grades (1986), both published by Allyn & Bacon. He is author of Instruction: A Models Approach, 7th edition (2016), also published by Allyn & Bacon, which includes a seminal chapter on a model of vocabulary acquisition grounded in patterns of meaning in words.

 

R. David Larrick, PhD, Author

David Larrick (we know him as 'Doc'), serves as an adviser on matters of language and instructional methodology and a product developer for the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System.

David received a BA in Greek and an MA in English from the University of Virginia, where he was named a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He did graduate work with the Medieval Studies Program at Cornell University before joining the Humanities Program at Florida State University, where he earned an interdisciplinary PhD.

He has conducted vocabulary teaching workshops for Dynamic Literacy in NewYork, New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana. He was presented the Phi Delta Kappa Outstanding High School Teacher Award, and received the Central Virginia area's Golden Apple Award. North Carolina State University honored him with its Inspirational Teacher Award. He has been a teacher for 45 years and is presently a semi-retired Adjunct Professor of Latin at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

 

Board of Directors

The founders serve on the company board, and we are blessed to have the following professionals as board members:

Reginald F. Woods, Chairman

Reginald F. Woods, Chairman of the Board, was CEO of Butler International (NYSE), where he led a successful corporate turnaround and many years of profitable growth. He is a co-founder of Dynamic Literacy, LLC, and serves on the Board of Scitent eLearning. He is also a co-founder and Board member of HemoShear Therapeutics, LLC, a biotech focused on drug development for rare metabolic diseases. He is on the Advisory Board of the University of Virginia Heart and Vascular Center, was co-founder of the Keswick Community Foundation, and has served on the Board and Executive Committee of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.

Brian M. Campbell, Ph.D., Chief Financial Officer

Dr. Campbell has been an entrepreneur and an economic consultant throughout his business career. He began in 1968 with an aviation consulting firm in New York and has worked in commercial aviation ever since. In 1973, he became vice president in charge of the firm’s Washington office. Throughout his consulting career he has assisted numerous startup companies with business plan preparation, financial forecasting, detailed market analyses, and strategic planning studies.

Currently he serves as vice chairman and acting chief financial officer of Dynamic Literacy, LLC and is a member of the advisory board of the University of Virginia Heart and Vascular Center. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University, an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and a PhD in Business Administration from Columbia University.

Kenneth E. Hankins, Marketing and Distribution Advisor

Ken began his business career and spent 21 years at The Clorox Company, a manufacturer and marketer of consumer cleaning products. His progression through the organization culminated when he became manager of all manufacturing and distribution facilities for the eastern half of the United States.

He joined St. Ives Laboratories, Inc, a personal care products business in 1994. When that company was aquired in 1996, Ken joined what is now Newell Rubbermaid, a diverse consumer products business. Ken relocated to Belgium in 1999 where he had supply-chain and information systems responsibility as a member of a three-person team tasked with building a window-fashions and drapery hardware business for Newell in Western Europe. The business was built through acquisitions and internal product development to $329 million in sales within three years.

Ken holds a BS in engineering from the University of South Florida and has completed the advanced management program at Emory University.

 

Dynamic Literacy | PO Box 388 | Lake Junaluska, NC 28745 | Phone: 888-696-8597 | Fax: 888-768-2906