James "Jim" Shelton is 2U's president and chief impact officer; managing programs 2U operates with its partner universities and overseeing university partner program implementation, research and university relations. Jim holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Morehouse College as well as master's degrees in both business administration and education from Stanford GSB and GSE.
Prior to 2U, Jim served as the Deputy Secretary and COO of the U.S. Department of Education and led a range of management, policy, and program functions in support of educational access and excellence for America's children, especially those least advantaged. While in government, he also launched and led the President's My Brother's Keeper initiative; and served on and led multiple interagency efforts focused on increasing economic opportunity and entrepreneurship and building the enabling technology and R&D infrastructures to accelerate progress.
Earlier in his career, Jim opened the east coast offices of NewSchools Venture Fund and became the program director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he managed a $2-3 billion portfolio of non-profit investments.