Our Story

In the 1980s, Allen Stoltzfus set off on a path that would revolutionize the way people learned foreign languages. As a middle-aged father of four, he began studying Russian and was distressed by his progress with conventional language-learning methods. He recalled his days as an American college student studying in Germany. He felt his command of German stemmed from his immersion in the language. Allen desired to use computer technology in a self-study program to show real life pictures in context without translation. He wanted to simulate the powerful way people acquire their native language. He presented his idea to his best friend, brother-in-law, and computer science Ph.D., John Fairfield. John shared Allen’s vision, but said it would have to wait until technology caught up.

Fairfield Language Technologies formed in 1992, when CD-ROMs became widely available. The company was a family affair. Having no capital to launch a business, Allen convinced his widowed mother to mortgage her house for start-up costs. During the early years, Allen and John employed their siblings, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews to help out by providing legal counsel, creating content, and assembling CD cases. Allen’s brother, Eugene Stoltzfus, left his successful architectural firm in Washington, DC, to serve as the company’s president and chairman of the board. Eugene lent his design expertise to the visual and structural aspects of the program. The three men called their software program “Rosetta Stone,” after the artifact that had unlocked the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphics for linguists.

Allen’s untimely passing in 2002, as the company was receiving national recognition through high profile customers such as NASA and the US State Department, caused the company to search for a new leader. Tom Adams, a multilingual Swedish national with a background in creating business partnerships throughout the globe, joined the company as chief executive officer in 2003. In 2006, the company was sold to investment firms ABS Capital Partners and Northwest Equity Partners. The company was renamed “Rosetta Stone.” This new partnership has allowed the company to continue to grow and meet the ever-increasing demands for its award-winning products.