ACT taps Dutch testing executive as CEO

Marten Roorda will succeed Jon Whitmore XXyyylasjka l;sjk;alj;l

By George C. Ford, The Gazette

The chief executive of a Dutch test publishing company has been named CEO of ACT, a not-for-profit assessment and educational testing organization in Iowa City,

Marten Roorda is CEO of Cito in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Roorda will replace Jon Whitmore, who will retire this fall.

During his 12-year tenure at Cito, Roorda led the $100 million organization with 600 employees to international recognition for its work in learning analytics and adaptive testing.

He also is the longest-serving member of the Association of Test Publishers board of directors.

During his ATP tenure, Roorda was a founder of ATP Europe and ATP Asia.

Carl Cohn, chairman of ACT's board of directors, said in a statement that Roorda was selected after a global search.

In 2007, Roorda led Cito in co-founding Kryterion, which offers online proctoring services. Kryterion, a full service provider of customizable assessment and certification products and services, has testing centers across the United States and around the world.

In 2013, Roorda also led Cito in co-founding OAT Technologies in Luxembourg. The company's open source test platform has been adopted by organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Program for International Student Assessment and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

Cito also recently launched Questify, a testing platform with users in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Roorda, who will begin his tenure at ACT in the fall, holds a master's degree in Dutch language and literature from Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; george.ford@thegazette.com