Our Leadership Team

Billy Elliott

CEO

Bill Elliott has been with Author Solutions since 2009. He has held multiple roles within finance and operations at both the Bloomington, Indiana, and Cebu, Philippines, offices. Prior to Author Solutions, Bill worked at CB Richard Ellis.

Bill holds an MBA from the Farmer School of Business at Miami University and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from DePauw University.

George A. Burnett

Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining Author Solutions, George served as Executive Vice Chairman of Academic Partnerships, which is a professional services firm providing marketing and sales support to public universities’ online degree programs. George’s business experience includes being President/CEO, Northcentral University, Chief Marketing Officer, Qwest Communications, VP Marketing Services, AT&T, and SVP, D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, a global advertising agency. George has served as a Director of Cott Corporation, Penn Foster, and Purchasing Power.

George earned his BA from Dartmouth College and returned to Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School for his MBA.

BILL BECHER

Chief Operating Officer

Bill has led service organizations from a variety of executive positions throughout his career. His leadership background includes serving as an Associate Partner at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), a National Partner at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting, and the Vice President of Professional Services and Program Management for Powerway, Inc.

Bill earned a degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame. As the Chief Operating Officer of Author Solutions, Bill leads the Global Fulfillment Department—production, design, editorial, customer service, author marketing services, digital content management, and distribution—and oversees Human Resources, the Program Management Office, the Legal Department and our international office.

Merrell Rio

Assoc. Vice President of Operations & General Manager, Cebu

Merrell has served as the Associate Vice President and General Manager for Philippine Operations since November 2015. Since joining the company in 2004, Merrell has held senior level positions within the company, particularly in Customer Service and Fulfillment of Publishing Services. Prior to joining Author Solutions, Merrell was a Division Manager of Innodata (NASDAQ: INOD), a global digital services and solutions company, which is based in Bergen County, New Jersey. He held various senior management positions in Planning, Production, Quality, and Client Services from 1999 to 2004 at its Philippine facility. He has in-depth background and experience in Project Management, Operations Management, and Customer Service. Merrell holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cebu Institute of Technology. He is a licensed engineer and a member of the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Melissa Bauer

General Counsel

Melissa Bauer has a BA in Economics from Bellarmine University and a JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Prior to Author Solutions, she was Assistant General Counsel for R.M.D. Corp.