Brian Shulman
(From princetoncapitalpartners.com)
Brian Shulman, a former punter at Auburn University during the Pat Dye football era and a long-time associate of convicted House Speaker Mike Hubbard, is head of LTS Education Systems (Learning Through Sports), which he started in 2001. Shulman has written a book, The Death of Sportsmanship, published in 2007, and he is a managing partner in the investment firm Princeton Capital Partners, which has offices in Boston, Dallas, Nashville, and Palm Beach.
Shulman and LTS have been close to several controversies over the years, perhaps because of his ties to Hubbard. Public documents and reports suggest LTS has been highly lucrative for Shulman, with the company receiving a major infusion of cash from public sources.
Now, we learn that Shulman, who is married to Lisa Shulman and has three children, has participated in a Web site that is notorious for its specific purpose of facilitating extramarital affairs.
This is from Shulman's bio at the LTS Web site's page about its executive team:
Mr. Shulman founded LTS in 2001 after recognizing the need to reach at-risk youth in a new and engaging format using a motivating gaming to learn approach that includes peer competitions. Brian guides the LTS team by the basic tenet that great solutions are a process, not a destination. Through relentless creativity and innovation, LTS was one of the first to deliver their solutions in an exclusive cloud-based manner over 12 years ago.
What about controversy surrounding Shulman and LTS? That surfaced in April 2011, with a report from veteran Huntsville Times reporter Bob Lowry. (Curiously, Lowry subsequently was forced out of his job, at the height of Mike Hubbard's powers, and now is retired.) From the Lowry article:
A politically-connected group has received more than $13 million from the Alabama Department of Education to contract for educational software since 2008 without the knowledge or approval of the state school board.
The money, part of an "at risk fund" controlled by Dr. Joe Morton, state superintendent, was paid to the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS), which hired a Birmingham software company to provide an after-school learning program based on video games called Kids College.
The software company, Learning Through Sports Inc., was formerly a partnership between Brian Shulman, a former Auburn football player, and Auburn Network Inc., a multimedia company owned by House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn.
Hubbard, president of Auburn Network, sold his interest in Learning Through Sports in 2005 to Shulman, according to a letter on file at the Alabama Ethics Commission. Hubbard declined to be interviewed for this story. But he said in a statement that he trusts Morton's judgment in the matter.
Bill Britt, publisher of Alabama Political Reporter, picked up on the issue in February 2013. From the Britt article:
If politics is about who gets what and how, then the state legislative leadership is already loading up the armored cars for their buddies. In fact, it very well may be that charter schools will be the next growth industry for those in power at the State House.
One needs to look no further than a multi-million dollar venture called “Learning Through Sports” to see how investments by legislators can lead to lucrative deals for themselves and their cronies, while tapping the insufficient resource of the state’s Education Trust Fund.
Speaker Mike Hubbard’s ties to Learning Through Sports LLC, and how Learning Through Sports obtained more than $13 million from Department of Education via payments to the politically connected Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS) organization, is such an example of deal making.
In the early days, Learning Through Sports LLC was a partnership between a Hubbard and friend and former Auburn football player Brian Shulman. Hubbard owned his share of the computer games and educational software company owned through Hubbard’s sports media company, Auburn Network Inc.
Things started getting murky about four years later. Writes Britt:
In a June 9, 2005, “Extraordinary Filing” letter to Ethics Commission director Jim Sumner, Hubbard informed Sumner that he planned to sell his interest in Learning Through Sports.
What is most interesting is that Hubbard never previously found it necessary to disclose on his ethic forms that he was an owner in the company. So what changed? According to Hubbard, he suddenly felt it appropriate that June day to announce he was “divesting” from Learning Through Sports because the company was on the verge of major contract with Alabama schools.According to Hubbard, Shulman had began negotiating a deal in April 2005 with the Department of Education to bring Learning Through Sports software to Alabama schools.
The timing of Hubbard’s disclosure most certainly raises some questions into his actions.
Hubbard stated in the June 2005 letter to the Ethics Commission, that Shulman had informed him two months earlier that Learning Through Sports “had approached the Alabama Department of Education about utilizing its software program . . ."
Why did Hubbard feel it necessary to defend his actions in such a way?
If he never used his influence why did he not disclose the information earlier?
Hubbard also told the Ethics Commission that he sold all of his shares in the company at the then-current valuation of 55 cents per share, effective June 15, 2005.
One month later, the company sent out a press release announcing that it had launched deals that ultimately would mean millions of dollars for the company funded by Hubbard.
Brian and Lisa Shulman certainly appear to have benefited from the machinations surrounding LTS. Shelby County Property records show they took out a $1.143 mortgage for property in Greystone, via First Commercial Bank. Records in the Shelby County Reporter show that in 2015 they sold a lot in Greystone 1 sector, phase VII for $1.650 million, to Barry and Monica Farris.
Lisa Hill Shulman
(right), with ,
Claudean Hill
(From facebook.com)
Perhaps insight can be found at the author's bio for his book, "The Death of Sportsmanship," at amazon.com:
A former football star and team captain at Auburn University, where coaches were his strongest influences, Brian Shulman has observed a shameful decrease in good sportsmanship, from youth leagues to the professional ranks in every major sport. "In our increasingly combative society," he says, "sports seem to be dividing us more than uniting us. As the games take on intimidating intensity, more and more children opt out, retreating to activities that offer no opportunity to build individual and team skills. If young athletes are to learn and practice sportsmanship, it must be taught, just like reading, writing, and arithmetic; and coaches and parents are the ones who must learn it and teach it." After years of research, he offers practical solutions that work and will revitalize athletics in your community's schools, ensuring that sports remain an integral part of our nation's fabric.
One of the fundamentals of sportsmanship is a sense of fair play, that you don't try to cheat the other side -- or anyone else. So how ironic is it that Brian Shulman portrays himself as an expert on sportsmanship, when substantial evidence suggests he has cheated Alabama taxpayers? How ironic is it that Brian Shulman's name appears at a Web site designed to help cheat on his wife? We sought comment from Shulman for this post, but he has not responded to our queries.
Previously:
(1) Edgar C. Gentle III -- attorney at Gentle Turner Sexton and Harbison, Birmingham, AL (3/8/16)
(2) Stewart Springer -- attorney, solo practice in Birmingham, AL. (3/9/16)
(3) Richard W. "Dick" Bell -- attorney, solo practice in Birmingham, AL (3/14/16)
(4) Robert M.N. Palmer -- attorney and bar association president in Springfield, MO (3/15/16)
(5) Thomas Plouff -- attorney, who is licensed in Alabama and has a practice in Chicago (3/17/16)
(6) James F. Henry -- attorney, Bradley Arant, Birmingham (3/23/16)
(7) Michael E. Stephens -- founder, Lakeshore Foundation, Birmingham (6/20/16)
(8) James Vawter -- founding principal, Capstone Collegiate Communities (10/4/16)
(9) Randy Bates -- executive VP and member of board of directors, Golden Flake (10/5/16)
(10) Reid Carpenter -- attorney, Lightfoot Franklin White, Birmingham (10/6/16)
(11) Scott Sink -- exec. VP, McGriff Seibels Williams, Birmingham (10/11/16)
(12) Russell Byrne -- VP for information systems, Bromberg's, Birmingham (10/17/16)
(13) Rob Waudby -- district manager, Skyline Steel, Birmingham (10/24/16)
(14) Paul Wells -- VP, Protective Life, Birmingham (10/25/16)
