Beverly C. Chell is the Vice Chairman and Interim CFO for PRIMEDIA Inc., overseeing and supporting Corporate Finance, Corporate Communications, Corporate Development, Government Relations, Insurance and Real Estate. Until October 2006, Ms. Chell served as General Counsel of PRIMEDIA. She has been a major presence in the reshaping of the publishing industry since joining Macmillan, Inc. in 1981. At both Macmillan and PRIMEDIA, her ability to structure transactions has been central to the rapid growth of both companies. She has been responsible for more than 250 transactions throughout her career. In 1989, Ms. Chell co-founded PRIMEDIA, then K-III Communications Corporation, with two other veterans of Macmillan, Charles G. McCurdy, President, and former PRIMEDIA Chairman & CEO William F. Reilly. After entering the publishing industry in 1981 as Associate General Counsel of Macmillan, Chell played a key role in the takeover battle between Macmillan and the late publishing magnate Robert Maxwell. She was also an influential strategist in the company's many acquisitions and joint ventures, which contributed to Macmillan's status as one of the fastest-growing publishing companies during the 1980's. Before joining Macmillan, Ms. Chell worked for over ten years at Athlone Industries as a Vice President and Member of the Board of Directors, where she first developed her expertise in transactions. Ms. Chell received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the New York Law School and an LLM degree from the New York University School of Law. She is very active in helping to solve the problems of public education and is the initiator of the New York City Public Schools Emergency Book Project, a program she spearheaded while on the Board of Directors of PENCIL, an organization whose aim is to bring business and public education together. The Emergency Book Project enabled one book to be donated to each of the 1 million city school children for use in classrooms. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Department.