Zach is whip smart and, honestly, the most efficient person with whom I have ever worked. His positivity and passion for what he does are palpable from the largest project to the smallest email. I appreciated working with him for many years, particularly his quick ability to problem-solve any issue you bring to the table. Zach works at the highest level regardless of whether he is working independently or collaborating with a team. I would not hesitate to recommend him to any organization.

— Angie Fedon, Director of Classroom Innovation and Online Education, Concordia University, Nebraska

I have known Zach professionally for over 5 years. As a Program Director, and Administrator, for online courses I have worked and developed approximately 30+ courses with Zach. I have never worked with someone more innovative, collaborative, efficient, and who displays an eye for quality control. I know that I would jump at the chance to work with Zach again and plan to utilize him in my future endeavors. I know that any program would greatly benefit from this creative academic.

— Shannon Leinen, MBA Program Director & Assistant Professor of Business, Concordia University, Nebraska

(Read full recommendation by Shannon Leinen here.)

Every interaction I've had with Zach reaffirms my impression that he is operating with a surplus of cognitive horsepower. Zach helped me design an online course, and he was a delight to work with, easily able to guide me through each phase of the project with endless patience and an expert sense of vision, from the broadest level to the most microscopic detail. Zach is an uncommonly talented communicator, problem-solver, and project manager!

— Patrick Hargon, Instructor, Academic Resource Center and Tutor Services Coordinator, Concordia University, Nebraska

I've worked with Zach during the past 3.5 years. He is one of the most enthusiastic and assiduous colleagues I've ever had. Zach is a good writer who can think up a compelling angle on almost any topic. He has an impressively wide range of interests that demonstrate real intellectual curiosity, which he shares with his students. Zach is always ready to help and is someone you can depend on.

— Thomas Armbrecht, Senior Learning Architect, HotChalk, Inc.

It is with great pleasure that I write this recommendation for Zachary Fruhling. We worked together for several years at HotChalk, Inc. and, most recently, on the Share Learning Platform Development Team. Zachary has always gone the extra mile to ensure deadlines were met and more importantly, that the project or task he either leads or is involved with is completed at the highest level. Zachary is a tremendous asset to the HotChalk, Inc. team as he would be with any team. It is a privilege to work alongside Zach.

— Sandra Fishler, Director of Academic Affairs, HotChalk, Inc.

I had the pleasure of working with Zach for over four years as he was an Instructional Designer who assisted our College of Graduate Studies & Adult Education at Concordia University, Nebraska in designing and revising over 100 of our online Graduate courses. Every faculty member who worked with Zach had great things to say about him and his support as many designed online courses for the first time. Zach's efficiency, professionalism, project management skills, and ability to develop and maintain relationships were all stellar.

— Jonathon Moberly, Dean of the College of Business, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies & Adult Education, Concordia University, Nebraska

"Extreme passion for education" is the phrase that best describes Zach. He is so enthusiastic about giving students access—at a reasonable cost—to 21st century online learning materials. Zach does not believe that a trade-off between quality of education and cost is necessary. The high cost of assigned books and other materials steer many students to rely on Internet searches. This often produces questionable or incomplete information, and certainly fails to develop students' comprehension and analytical skills. Zach knows that training students to form their logical and well-reasoned ideas thoughts about real-world challenges is essential to a student's future success. I sincerely believe that, if Zach were granted a single wish, he would want all students to have access to, and fully utilize, the tools needed to achieve higher-level thinking skills. Without question, Zach receives my highest praise. He has the devotion, technical coding skills, and advanced education to make this happen.

— Gwendolyn (Wendy) Giblin, J.D., M.B.A.

Zach blends a logician's attention to precision with a passionate teacher's dedication to student learning. We worked together on developing tools for teaching logic to undergraduates, and more generally on developing interactive pedagogical models that would help students wrap their head around challenging concepts. He would be a fantastic asset to any team looking for a detail-oriented, dedicated problem solver!

— Chris Makler, Senior Content Architect, Aplia.

It’s been my pleasure to collaborate with Zach for several years on Aplia’s digital homework solutions in multiple disciplines. Zach is an excellent writer and digital content creator. His online problem sets are widely recognized as models for both their pedagogical approaches and their visual design. Zach works well across disciplines, actively building relationships with engineering and user interface design groups, with wonderfully innovative results. He can be trusted understand the educational goals for a broad range of courses, design online solutions to meet these goals, and then do what it takes to create and ship the finished product. He comes highly recommended.

— Rick Meyers, Chief Technology Officer, Aplia

Zach is one of the most passionate, dedicated people I have ever worked with. We worked together at Cengage Learning and Zach was always happily available to answer my questions as I figured out the ropes. He's a great teacher and explained technical concepts in a way that made perfect sense. He is ridiculously smart and a gifted writer on top of that. Such well-rounded, talented people don't come along very often. I can't recommend him highly enough.

— Kate Smyres, International Digital Delivery Lead, Cengage Learning

I was privileged to collaborate with Zachary on a number of projects, most notably a set of Philosophy homework sets. To each project Zachary brings a sense of both teacher and learner. This results in creative inspiration for all involved—writers and illustrators. More importantly, the end products designed by Zachary always reflect a high level of consideration for the students’ learning needs. Not only does Zachary keep an open mind about new approaches and methods to teaching, he seeks them out. Zachary is a collaborator of the highest order.

— Joseph (Joe) Hill, Media Designer, Cengage Learning

More than anyone, Zack was responsible for creating an entirely new and successful product, Aplia Logic. From the vision, to development, to deployment and finally support. And he was an excellent collaborator with the engineers, designers, editors, and others involved in the work—always making others successful, always proactively coordinating, etc. All-in-all, he was an excellent hire. Wish I were still working with him now!

— Daniel White, Executive Director, Aplia

I had the pleasure of working with Zach from 2008-2014 at Aplia/Cengage Learning. Zach is super friendly and sports a consistently positive attitude towards his work and his co-workers. He is an innovative thinker and problem-solver, and he is always eager to share his knowledge and expertise with his colleagues. Zach is also a skilled teacher and mentor who looks out for those around him to ensure they are improving in their own work—a true team player. On top of all that, Zach is reliable, goes above and beyond in his own work, and knows how to meet a deadline.

— Andy Marinkovich, Managing Editor, Aplia / Cengage Learning

Zachary is an enthusiastic, positive, and all around wonderful colleague with a passion for educating, and a talent for breaking down and explaining philosophical concepts for non-philosophers. He always comes into the room prepared to collaborate and move the project forward. I hope to work with him again in the future.

— Heather McNabb, Senior Media Designer / Animator, Cengage Learning

I worked with Zachary at Cengage Learning where Zach developed content for Aplia’s Logic and Philosophy online homework products. I always found Zach’s content to be clear and engaging. Working with Zach was also a pleasure. He takes an interest in other departments and the big picture as it relates to delivering a great experience for customers. I hope to have the chance to work with him again.

— John Kyte, Senior Program Manager, Cengage Learning (Aplia)

Zachary is a good person by heart, very detail oriented person, very helpful, and he puts his full effort and commitment towards a task he takes in. We worked together in few production issues (escalation tickets) and Zachary was helping me with that fully until it got resolved. Even if it is not his discipline, he comes forward and help(s). He checks in and analyze completely to figure out the root cause of an issue and fixes it. Also writes detailed analysis of what and where the issue originated and the fix for it. His friendly nature, helping tendency, and (his) commitment towards (his) job will take him to places.

— Varuna Rengarajan, Software QA Lead, Cengage Learning

Zach is not only an expert of content development, he is also an enthusiastic collaborator who was a delight to work with. Our design team created visuals and interaction for his content on several projects, and we always looked forward to his ability to think creatively and problem solve solutions. I would work with Zach again in a heartbeat!

— Susan Michael Sørensen, Director of User Experience, Aplia

I worked with Zachary at Aplia/Cengage, where Zach led the design and authoring of the most amazing Aplia Logic coursework, which epitomizes what online education should be: effective, engaging, elegant and fun. Zach's work has therefore always impressed me deeply and I have always enjoyed working with him.

— Karl Lew, Software Architect, Content Engineering, Aplia

Zachary and I worked together in Aplia, where he developed digital content for Philosophy. As the Platform Analyst for Aplia I collaborated with Zachary on analyzing feedback from customers and developing technical enhancements to the product. Zachary is extremely devoted to his work. Over the years he built digital content that was second to none in the industry; content that brought many new customers and ensured long term retention of existing customers. On a personal level, Zachary is easily approachable and is a pleasure to work with. He possess positive attitude that he manages to maintain even during extremely busy or challenging business cycles. I highly recommend Zachary for any position he may pursue in the future.

— Tanya Birman, Systems Analyst, Cengage Learning / Aplia

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend Zach Fruhling wholeheartedly and without reservation. Speaking as a former colleague, I can attest that Zach can always be relied on to bring professionalism, talent, and integrity to his work. It is his nature, and his nature inspires the same from those who work around him. His ability to combine sharp reasoning with passion, creativity, and innovation makes him all the more valuable to any organization. Zach is a catch for any organization looking to hire only the best.

— Peg Bessette Knight, Senior Program Manager, Senior Product Manager, Aplia / Cengage Learning

I had the pleasure of working with Zach at Cengage Learning when we were both Learning Design Authors. Zach created the philosophy and logic curriculum for the digital Aplia product. He developed this product from the ground up and it was received by students and instructors with robust approval. Zach is a detail-oriented person and this comes across in the succinct and precise style of his writing. He understands students learning needs and makes his content engaging and highly visual for his students. He is tech savvy and was often relied upon by myself and other coworkers for help with the online Aplia authoring environment.

— Melanee Grondahl, Senior Content Designer, Developmental Studies, Aplia / Cengage Learning

Zach is a knowledgeable and passionate colleague. He's developed absolutely wonderful learning materials in his role as Senior Learning Design Author, and is always willing to go the extra mile to help colleagues develop their skills. He's a great person to work with!

— Carmen von Rohr, Senior Learning Design Author, Sociology, Aplia

I had the good fortune to have collaborated with Zach on a number of projects at Cengage Learning. Besides being a gifted writer, content developer and subject matter expert, Zach is also a skilled collaborator, bringing the best out of those he works with, while making sure the products of those collaborations are engaging and pedagogically sound.

— Pat Broderick, Media Designer, Cengage Learning

I worked with Zach for 4 years as a fellow content developer at Cengage Learning. Not only was the quality of Zach's work exceptional, but so was his work ethic and desire to advance the product and company as a whole. Zach went above and beyond not just to meet deadlines, but to ensure that the quality of the product he was building was always high. Additionally, Zach was frequently part of task forces focused on improving company-wide processes, and was always willing to take time to build up the skills of more junior team members. I would highly recommend Zach both as an excellent employee and a great coworker.

— Chrissie Deist, Economics Content Developer, Aplia / Cengage Learning

Zach always impresses me with his uncanny technical understanding and his ability to craft creative vision into deliverables. His easy going and very personable nature makes him a pleasure to work with.

— Brian Smay, Digital Solutions Manager, Aplia / Cengage Learning

I was the content lead for Zach on two philosophy projects at Cengage. Zach was a pleasure to work with. Zach's knowledge and expertise in philosophy and with the XML software made managing these projects a breeze. Zach is passionate about his work, and he is an excellent writer (he received glowing reviews). Zach was extremely helpful, patient, and a fabulous teacher.

— Melanie Field, Content Lead, Aplia / Cengage Learning