Stephen A. Sasser is President and Chief Executive Officer of Assess Systems. Steve has extensive senior management experience with ten years as CEO building successful public and private enterprise software and services companies. His career encompasses strategic and operational leadership roles with five companies that became recognized leaders in their respective market segments.

Prior to co-founding Merlin Technologies, Steve was President and CEO of Peopleclick, Inc., a privately held software-as-a-service human capital management company. Prior to joining Peopleclick, from 1995-2003, Sasser served as President and CEO of Frontstep (FKA SYMIX), a NASDAQ traded public company which was acquired by manufacturing software provider Mapics. Prior to the acquisition, he guided Frontstep to over $120m in revenues from $40m and established the company as a leader in the ERP, CRM, and supply chain software sector for the discrete manufacturing industry. He has also held various leadership positions with Trilogy Development, and high growth public software companies Legent, Goal Systems, and UCCEL.

Steve earned his BBA and MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Jim Buchanan is Chief Financial Officer of Assess Systems. Jim has significant experience in the CFO and COO position for public and private software companies with worldwide operations and annual sales ranging from $50 million to over $500 million. His career encompasses leadership roles with five companies that became recognized leaders in their respective markets.

Prior to co-founding Merlin Technologies, Jim was the Chief Financial Officer of Peopleclick, Inc. He joined Peopleclick from Convera Corporation, a NASDAQ traded public software company with worldwide operations, where he was the Chief Operating Officer after serving as the Chief Financial Officer. Jim was instrumental in the creation of Convera which resulted from a merger between his predecessor company, Excalibur Technologies, and a division of Intel Corporation, in a merger transaction valued in excess of $900 million. He has held a number of financial and operational senior management positions with leading public software companies Legent and Goal Systems. Over the course of his career, he has led a significant number of M&A transactions and public equity financings.

Jim earned his MBA in Finance from Indiana University and is a CPA.

JoAnn McMillan is Chief Operating Officer of Assess Systems and is responsible for coordinating the consulting, IT, marketing and customer support teams for Assess Systems. In addition, she serves as partner liaison for Assess Systems’ strategic alliances and distributor relationships. With over 25 years of consulting experience, she has been an integral part of Assess Systems’ development and implementation of selection and development-oriented assessment solutions for clients worldwide. As a licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas, JoAnn has expertise in the areas of competency modeling, test validation, selection process design, leadership assessment and executive coaching.

JoAnn earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Texas Tech University in 1987 and her BA in Psychology from the same university. She is a licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Society for Human Resource Management.

David G. Bigby serves on the Board of Directors for Assess Systems and Merlin Technologies. Dave is the founder and principal of Assess Systems (formerly Bigby, Havis & Associates) and former President. Dave has over 30 years of experience in the areas of test development and validation; psychological appraisal; organizational analysis and development; executive coaching and development; and computer applications. He has spent his entire career working as a practitioner consultant, specializing in developing and using technology to provide sophisticated competency-based assessment services to Assess Systems' clients. He has been heavily involved in and oversaw the adaptation of Assess Systems' assessment tools in over forty-two countries to date.

Dave earned his doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Houston.

Sarah Glass is Vice President, Consulting Services for Assess Systems. Sarah has been providing consulting services to companies in the areas of developing competency models and selection procedures, validating selection assessments, designing development programs and providing one-on-one and workshop-based developmental programs. She has been involved in the development and marketing of both the Assess Expert System and the Assess Strategic Success Modeling Process. She is currently part of the Assess Systems team that is adapting assessment tools for use in the international marketplace.

Sarah earned her MA in Clinical/Counseling Psychology from Southern Methodist University in 1995 and her BA in Psychology from the same university. She is a licensed Psychological Associate in the State of Texas, and a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Carol A. Jenkins is Vice President, Consulting Services for Assess Systems and her areas of specialization include test development and validation, selection process design, leadership assessment, development and coaching. She has been involved in the development and marketing of both the Assess Expert System and the Assess Strategic Success Modeling Process. She is currently part of the Assess Systems team that is adapting assessment tools for use in the international marketplace. As the Latin America market coordinator, Carol is directly involved in projects in Mexico and Columbia.

Carol earned her Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2001. She earned her BA in Psychology in 1993 at Northeast Louisiana University. She is a licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas, and is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Steve Hardesty is Vice President of Consulting Services for Assess Systems and leads our executive assessment and coaching practice area. In his consulting work, Steve had been using Assess Systems tools for building selection and development processes and for creating culture change in large corporations. Prior to joining Assess Systems, he managed coaching and assessment services at a Fortune 100 high tech company and, prior to that, he was a Senior Consultant for a major human resource development company. He has designed and delivered projects across North America, Europe, China, and Japan. His first career in psychology was as a clinician working with adults, children, and families. He also managed a child guidance clinic and was an outpatient clinic director for a major psychiatric hospital.

Steve earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He earned a BA in Psychology from Southern Methodist University. He is a licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas, and is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

T. Scott McTague is Director of Consulting Services for Assess Systems. His 20 years of consulting experience includes the design, implementation and measurement of strategic human resources, organizational development, and talent management systems for small, medium and large companies across diverse industries. He has consulted with many successful organizations on a wide variety of talent management and HR issues such as talent selection, talent development, performance management, succession planning, and organizational effectiveness. Scott has played many roles over his career, including assessor, mentor, project manager, client manager, product developer, department head, and board member.

Scott earned his MA in I/O Psychology from the University of North Texas in 1992 and his BA in Psychology from the University of Kansas in 1987. He is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Nila Sinha is Director, Consulting Services for Assess Systems and her areas of specialization include construction of competency-based hiring and development programs, psychological assessment, test validation and employee development. She has worked with a diversity of clients and industries in the design and validation of customized selection systems and leadership development programs. She has been involved in the development of the Assess Strategic Success Modeling Process and the marketing of the Assess Expert System. She is currently part of the Assess Systems team that is adapting assessment tools for use in the international marketplace for China, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Nila earned her Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from the Florida International University in 2003. She earned her BS in Psychology in 1994 from the University of Florida. She is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Keith McCook is Director, Consulting Services for Assess Systems. His areas of specialization include test development and validation, selection process design, leadership assessment and development, and research on international norming considerations for assessments. His areas of specialization include development of competency-based hiring and development programs, psychological assessment, test validation and employee development. He has been involved in the development and marketing of the Assess Expert System throughout European markets, and serves as Market Manager of Europe for Assess Systems. Keith has helped clients in various industries (e.g., retail, natural resources, technology) to design employee selection and leadership development programs. He is a licensed psychologist in the State of Texas and a Chartered Psychologist in the United Kingdom.

Keith earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology from Louisiana State University. He earned a B.A. in Psychology (summa cum laude) from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association.

Diane Ianni is Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Assess Systems and is responsible for global marketing, sales and strategic partner alliances. With over 20 years in the software and services industry, she has experience in alliance relations, marketing, product management, sales and technical support. Prior to joining Assess Systems, she was Senior Director of Marketing and Sales at i2 Technologies, a supply chain management company. She has marketing and leadership experience with start-ups to enterprise companies including CA, Goal Systems, Legent Corporation, Platinum technology and Rockwell International.

Diane earned her BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Bethany College.

David Sheu is Director of Software Development for Assess Systems and is responsible for the Information Technology operations of the company, which includes system architecture and development of web applications. He joined Assess Systems in 1998 and was involved in the design and development of the first web enabled Assess Systems suite of tools. David ensures the company’s software solutions include cutting edge technology and user friendliness as top priorities. He has experience in the development and support of desktop applications and web applications utilizing various types of technology, project management, and web application integration interfaces.

David earned both a BS in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.