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John D. Dionne has been a Director of Cengage since March 2014. Mr. Dionne is a Senior Advisor of Blackstone Group L.P. and a Senior Lecturer and member of the faculty with the Harvard Business School. He was most recently a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone and Global Head of its Private Equity Investor Relations and Business Development Groups. He also served as a member of Blackstoneā€™s Private Equity Investment and Valuation Committees. Mr. Dionne originally joined Blackstone in 2004 as the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of the Blackstone Distressed Securities Fund, the firmā€™s initial entry into the single-manager hedge fund practice, with peak assets under management of $2 billion. During this period, he also served on the Investment Committees of Blackstoneā€™s GSO and Kalix investment businesses. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Dionne was for several years a Partner and Portfolio Manager for Bennett Restructuring Funds, specializing in investing in financially troubled companies. Mr. Dionne currently serves on the board of directors of Pelmorex Media Inc., Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. and Sequential Brands Group. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Public Accountant (inactive). Mr. Dionne is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the University of Scranton.