Former Congressman John Porter Elected Chairman of the Board; Peter Frid, Robert Flowers New Vice-Chairmen
ARLINGTON, VA, November 14, 2007 - Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO, announced the names of the new Board Officers and General Directors who were elected to three-year terms on the PBS Board during its recent annual organizational meeting. John E. Porter, Partner, Hogan & Hartson was selected as the new Chairman of the PBS Board, while Peter Frid, CEO and General Manager, New Hampshire Public Television and Robert Flowers, retired Senior Vice President of Community Lending and Investment, Washington Mutual will serve as Vice-Chairmen. Fred Berens, Managing Director - Investments, Wachovia Securities, LLC. and Molly Corbett Broad, President Emerita, University of North Carolina are new members to the Board while Geoffrey Sands, Director, McKinsey & Company and Lionel Sosa, CEO, MATT.org (Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together) were elected to their first full terms after completing those of their predecessors. Al Jerome, President & CEO, KCET/Los Angeles, CA was elected to fill the open Professional Director seat, after Joyce Herring KACV/Amarillo, TX resigned her position on the Board in order to accept the position of PBS Senior Vice President, Station Services.
The PBS Board includes both Professional Directors, who are station leaders, and General Directors, who represent the general public. The membership of PBS elects the Professional Directors. The General Directors are elected by the Board, which also appoints the PBS President and Chief Executive Officer.
"As we strive to serve our member stations, viewers and other stakeholders, it is crucial we have the guidance and counsel of engaged community leaders from across the nation who have expertise in a broad range of fields," said Ms. Kerger. "We are very proud to have these individuals serving on our exceptional Board."
The PBS Board of Directors is responsible for governing and setting policy for PBS. In total, the Board comprises 27 members: 14 Professional Members; 12 General Directors; and the PBS President. Board members serve without pay.
Newly Elected Board Officers
John Edward Porter (Chairman of the Board)
A partner in Hogan & Hartson's Washington, D.C. office, Mr. Porter is a member of the firm's Health, Education and Government Advocacy practice groups. Prior to joining Hogan & Hartson, he served twenty-one years as Congressman from Illinois' 10th District.
In Congress, he served on the Appropriations Committee and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations; and Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Construction.
Prior to his election to Congress, Mr. Porter served in the Illinois House of Representatives. He studied at M.I.T., received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan law school. Mr. Porter is a member of numerous Boards and previously served as General Vice Chair of the PBS Board, has chaired the PBS Finance Committee, and served on the Education and Content Policy committees and on the APTS/PBS Joint Board Task Force.
Robert J. Flowers (Vice Chairman)
Mr. Flowers retired from Washington Mutual in January, 2005 where he served as Senior Vice President of Community Lending and Investment. In that capacity, he was responsible for managing the community lending and investment division, and external initiatives, bank wide. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Flowers served as President of the Community Investment and Development division, headquartered in Los Angeles. He is a founder and board member of Plaza Bank, serves on the board of AAA of Washington and on the Washington State Convention and Trade Center Board. Mr. Flowers is currently board Chair of KCTS Television and serves on several community boards including the 101 Club at the Washington Athletic Club, the Seattle Sports Commission and the University of Washington Athletic Department's Tyee Advisory Board, to name only a few.
Mr. Flowers earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Washington.
Peter Frid (Vice Chairman)
Mr. Frid has been CEO and General Manager of New Hampshire Public Television since 1996, serving all of New Hampshire, southern Maine, northeast Massachusetts, and eastern Vermont. Prior to joining NHPTV, he was President and General Manager of KEDT- FM & TV and KVRT-FM in Corpus Christi, Texas. In addition, he has been President and General Manager of KTOO-FM & TV in Juneau, Alaska, Acting President and General Manager/Director of Broadcasting, WLIW-TV, Long Island, New York, and has held a number of production positions and was Director of Programming at WSBE-TV, Providence, Rhode Island. Currently he serves as a Vice Chair of NETA. In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the Organization of State Broadcast Executives (OSBE) and has been a panelist on several CPB committees and other advisory committees to the industry.
He is a graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi (Texas) and Leadership New Hampshire, but remains engaged in the New Hampshire community, serving as President of Great Bay Rowing, immediate past Chair of the New Hampshire Travel Council Board, a member of the Business and Industry Association Board of Directors, immediate past Chair for Television, NH Association of Broadcasters, and member of the Dartmouth - Hitchcock Medical Center Assembly of Overseers.
New General Directors
Fred Berens
As Managing Director- Investments at Wachovia Securities, LLC in Miami, Fred Berens is a high-level investment manager with vast entrepreneurial expertise. In addition to his position at Wachovia Securities LLC, he sits on the Board of Directors of Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and was one of the founders of French Fragrances Inc.
A veteran member of the Board of Directors of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., the licensee of WPBT, Mr. Berens is a former board chair of the Foundation and was the long-time chair of its Executive Committee.
Mr. Berens holds a BBA in Economics and an MBA in Finance from the University of Miami. He sits on the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami, the Board of Directors of the Carnival Performing Arts Center Foundation, and the Orange Bowl Committee. He has been a member of the Dade County Health Facilities Authority since 1979 and served as its Chairman for several years.
Molly Corbett Broad
Molly Corbett Broad, an economist and educator, served as President of the 16-campus University of North Carolina from April 1997 until January 2006. Ms. Broad was responsible for managing the affairs, executing the policies of the University and representing the University to the NC General Assembly, state officials, the federal government, and other key University constituencies.
Before coming to UNC, Ms. Broad held administrative and executive positions at a number of universities, building a formidable reputation and gaining experience and expertise in finance, information technology, capital planning and construction, leadership development and strategy. She was senior vice chancellor for administration and finance at the California State University system from 1992 to 1993, and as executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer from 1993 until her election as UNC President.
Ms. Broad is past chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-grant Colleges (NASULGC) board of directors, past chair of the Internet 2 Corporation Board of Directors and past president for the International Council for Distance Education. She has served on numerous education industry boards and executive committees in her tenure.
Ms. Broad graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1962 with a baccalaureate degree in economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She holds a master's degree in the field from Ohio State University and held a doctoral fellowship in economics at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
Elected to Their First Full Term As General Directors
Geoffrey Sands
Geoffrey Sands is a Director at McKinsey & Company and heads its Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice. He has 20 years of experience working with many of the leading marketing, media and entertainment companies. Mr. Sands helps senior management develop innovative growth strategies, improve performance and profitability, and re-design organization structures. His clientele spans a range of businesses that include: newspaper, magazine and book publishing; broadcast and cable television; recorded music; filmed entertainment; professional publishing; business information services; education; marketing services; video games; consumer electronics; and sports. Much of his work centers on helping media companies develop capabilities and transform organizations in times of profound change.
Before joining McKinsey, he was lead partner in the Media and Entertainment Practice at Booz Allen and Hamilton. Prior to that he was a Vice President at NW Ayer Inc., where he developed marketing strategies for clients in financial services, consumer products, and travel and leisure. He is a trustee of the Sundance Institute and the Industry Advisor to the World Economic Forum's Media & Entertainment Governors' Meetings.
Mr. Sands received his BA and MBA degrees from Yale University. Mr. Sands serves as Vice Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Strategic Planning Advisory Group. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of WNET/Thirteen.
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa is CEO of the grassroots online think tank Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT.org). He is also an independent marketing consultant, a portrait artist as well as a motivational speaker. He is the founder of Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, now Bromley Communications, the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S., and a recognized expert in Hispanic consumer and voter behavior, education and achievement. Mr. Sosa was named "One of the 25 Most influential Hispanics in America" by Time Magazine in 2005 and is a member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame. He is the author of Think and Grow Rich, a Latino Choice, published in 2006 by Random House, and The Americano Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve Success in Business and in Life, published in 1998 by Dutton. He has been Hispanic Media Consultant in six Republican presidential campaigns beginning in 1980, including President George W. Bush's in 2000 and 2004.
Currently, Mr. Sosa serves on the board of directors of QuePasa.com, the largest bi-lingual online community in the country, and serves on Eastman Kodak's External Diversity Advisory Panel. Mr. Sosa has served on the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System, the Board of Trustees for the University of the Incarnate Word, the Boards of Sesame Workshop, creators of Sesame Street, ACT (American College Testing) and Bank of America, Texas. He chaired both the United Way of San Antonio and the San Antonio Symphony.
In the spring of 2001, Mr. Sosa was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. He was awarded an honorary Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of the Incarnate Word and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He has served on the board of KLRN/San Antonio and currently serves on the PBS Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, APTS/PBS Joint Liaison Committee, and National Policy Advisory Committee.
New Professional Director
Al Jerome
Mr. Jerome has served as President & CEO, KCET/Los Angeles since 1996. He spent the first twenty-six years of his career in commercial television, with NBC, CBS, and ABC, with a focus on news and public affairs. As news became less a mission and more a profit center with public service being sacrificed, Mr. Jerome left the station business to take on an entrepreneurial challenge in the hotel industry, as President and CEO of SpectraVision, which had developed technology and relationships with the movie studios in order to supply hotels with entertainment and information services.
A champion of regional and local programming, Mr. Jerome has ensured KCET has continued its award-winning weeknight public affairs series Life & Times. Also under his leadership, KCET has partnered with KQED/San Francisco, KVIE/Sacramento and KPBS/San Diego to produce the weekly statewide newsmagazine California Connected. Now in its sixth year, California Connected is a recipient of the 2007 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in Broadcast journalism.
About PBS
PBS is a media enterprise that serves 355 public noncommercial television stations and reaches nearly 73 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is a leading provider of digital learning content for pre-K-12 educators and offers a broad array of other educational services. PBS’ premier kids’ TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (www.pbskids.org), continue to be parents’ and teachers’ most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.
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