Geoffrey Sands Reelected Board Chair; Allen Weatherly Reelected Professional Vice-Chair; Molly Corbett Broad New Vice-Chair
General Directors Selected and Professional Directors Seated at November Meeting
ARLINGTON, VA, November 22, 2011 — Paula Kerger, PBS President and Chief Executive Officer, announced the results of the 2011-2012 Board elections after the recent Board meeting in Crystal City, VA. The Board reelected McKinsey & Company Director Geoffrey Sands as Board Chair, as well as Arkansas Educational Television Network Executive Director Allen Weatherly as Professional Vice Chair, and selected American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad for a first term as General Vice Chair. Donald A. Baer was elected to his first term as a General Director while Larry Irving was reelected to his second term in this category. Don Boswell was also elected to serve as a Professional Director. Mr. Boswell replaces DeAnne Hamilton, who resigned from the Board when she left her position as the General Manager of WKAR-TV to lead a public radio station.
In addition, the Board welcomed Malcolm Brett, Director, Broadcasting & Media Innovations, Wisconsin Public Television; Ruby Calvert, General Manager, Wyoming PBS; and Paula Castadio, President and CEO, ValleyPBS/KVPT, to their first meeting since being reelected to second terms as Professional Directors in August.
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.
“The PBS Board is an outstanding group of truly dynamic and talented leaders,” said Ms. Kerger. “I feel so fortunate to have such a committed and engaged Board helping to guide PBS during this time of extraordinary change and unprecedented opportunity for public media. I look forward to working with each of our extraordinary directors as we draw the roadmap for delivering on PBS’ strategic priorities – transforming content, strengthening stations’ financial health and innovating through new methods and new approaches.”
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. All PBS Board members serve three-year terms, without pay.
Elected to First Term as Board Officer
Molly Corbett Broad (General Vice Chair)
Molly Corbett Broad, an economist and educator, was recently appointed President of the American Council on Education (ACE), the nation’s principal higher education association. She was President of the 16-campus University of North Carolina from 1997-2006. UNC's chief executive officer is responsible for managing the affairs and executing the policies of the University and for representing the University to the NC General Assembly, state officials, the federal government, and other key University constituencies. Ms. Broad also served as the State Higher Education Executive Officer (SHEEO). Before coming to UNC, Ms. Broad held administrative and executive positions at a number of universities. She was senior vice chancellor for administration and finance at the California State University system from 1992 to 1993, and was executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer from 1993 until her election as UNC President. Earlier in her career, she had served as the chief executive officer for Arizona's three-campus university system (1985-92) and in a succession of administrative posts at Syracuse University (1971-85), where she was manager of the Office of Budget and Planning, Director of Institutional Research and Strategic Planning, and vice president for Government and Corporate Relations. In 1976, she took a one-year leave of absence to serve as deputy director of the New York State Commission on the Future of Postsecondary Education, a blue-ribbon panel charged with evaluating the organizational structure and financing of the state's two public university systems. Ms. Broad graduated from Syracuse University, Phi Beta Kappa 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. Active in an array of professional and civic organizations, Ms. Broad has written and spoken widely on strategic planning for higher education, information technologies, globalization, biotechnology and K-16 partnerships. She is immediate 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 the boards and executive committees of the Business-Higher Education Forum, the National Council on Competitiveness, the National Association of University System Heads, MCNC (Micro-electronics Corp of North Carolina), the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the North Carolina Economic Development Board. She holds seats on the boards of RTI International (former Research Triangle Institute), the Institute for Defense and Business, the executive advisory boards of the Monster.com, SunGard SCT, Mellon Foundation, the Association of Governing Boards Presidents' Council, and the Partnership for Public Service. A member of the First Centenary Consultative Committee for Fudan University in Shanghai, China, she also serves on the Parsons Corporation Board of Directors and its audit and nominating/governance committees. Ms. Broad is the Vice-Chair of the PBS Strategic Planning Advisory Group and serves on the Finance and National Policy Advisory Committees and Dues Review Task Force. She previously vice chaired the PBS Investment Subcommittee.
Reelected Board Officers
Geoffrey K. Sands (Board Chair)
Geoffrey Sands is a Director of McKinsey & Company and heads its Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice. 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. He has been a longtime supporter of PBS, CPB and numerous stations. 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. He is a trustee of the Sundance Institute, the Educational Broadcasting Corporation and the Paley Center For Media. He is also 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 Chairs the PBS Executive Committee and serves on the National Policy Advisory, Nominating and Corporate Governance, and Finance Committees and the Diversity Task Force. Previously, Mr. Sands served as Chair of the Strategic Planning Advisory Group.
Allen Weatherly (Professional Vice Chair)
Allen Weatherly is Executive Director of AETN (Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Network). Mr. Weatherly has been with AETN since 1993, seven years as Deputy Director before taking his current position in January 2001. AETN serves Arkansas from studios in Conway, Arkansas and six transmitters located throughout the state. He is also the Executive Director and a Board Member of the AETN Foundation. Prior to AETN, Mr. Weatherly worked with Ozarks Public Television (Springfield, Missouri) from 1980 to 1993, progressing from development associate to Senior Vice President/Director of Broadcasting. During his tenure, AETN has expanded education services, including video streamed lessons and video, free to every school in the state, a comprehensive professional development website and training program available free to Arkansas teachers and funded by the Arkansas Department of Education. AETN has also created an innovative web-based World War II oral history archive for Arkansas recently bringing forty-seven Arkansas World War II veterans to Washington for a tribute tour, and has accelerated Arkansas programming efforts, including a popular performance series and three full-time digital channels - one devoted exclusively to educational professional development. AETN is also involved in major outreach efforts related to national and state parks. Mr. Weatherly is involved through leadership positions with OSBE, NETA, AGC, PBS, APTS and CPB. In Arkansas, he serves on the Governor’s Cabinet and is a board member of the Arkansas Leadership Academy. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Central Arkansas and teaches at least one broadcast management course each semester. A former newspaper columnist in both Missouri and Arkansas, Mr. Weatherly is a graduate of Missouri State University (Springfield, Missouri), with a degree in history. Mr. Weatherly is Chair of the PBS Station Services Committee and serves on the PBS Executive and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. He previously served as Chair of the Interconnection Committee.
Reelected General Director
Larry Irving
Larry Irving is the President and CEO of the Irving Information Group, a consulting firm providing strategic advice and assistance to international telecommunications and technology companies, technology and media startups and foundations and non-profit organizations. Prior to founding the Irving Information Group, Mr. Irving served for almost seven years as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where he was a principal advisor to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international telecommunications and information technology issues. During his tenure as Assistant Secretary, the focus of Mr. Irving’s work was opening domestic and foreign telecommunications markets to competition, ensuring consumer choice, and spurring development of advanced telecommunications and information infrastructures in rural and underserved areas. Mr. Irving was one of the principal architects and advocates of the Clinton Administration’s telecommunications and Internet policies, and was a point person in the Clinton Administration’s successful efforts to reform the United States telecommunications laws. Those efforts resulted in passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the most sweeping change in America s telecommunications laws in 60 years. Similarly, in international fora, Irving was an ardent advocate of regulatory reform on behalf of the Clinton Administration. He represented the United States Government as Sherpa (lead coordinator for the U.S. Government) at the G-7’s first Ministerial meeting on the Global Information Society in Brussels, and at the Information Society and Development Conference in South Africa, the first Ministerial meeting between developing countries and developed countries to discuss the Global Information Infrastructure. Mr. Irving was also a key member of the United States team that negotiated the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on basic telecommunication services. On behalf of the Clinton Administration, Mr. Irving led or participated in trade missions and global conferences in all corners of the world to promote principles of competition, liberalization, and privatization of telecommunications and information technology sectors. Mr. Irving also has been an ardent advocate of regulatory forbearance with regard to new information technologies, particularly the Internet, and helped establish domestic and international policies regarding the emerging Electronic Commerce marketplace. Mr. Irving is widely credited with coining the term the digital divide and sparking global interest in the growing problem it represents. He initiated and was the principal author of the landmark Federal survey, Falling Through the Net, which tracked access to telecommunications and information technologies, including telephones, computers and the Internet, across racial, economic, and geographic lines. In large part due to his work to promote policies and develop programs to ensure access to advanced telecommunications and information technologies, Mr. Irving was named one of the fifty most influential persons in the ‘Year of the Internet’ by Newsweek Magazine. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1976, and is a recipient of the University s Alumni Merit Award for distinguished professional achievement. He is also a graduate of Stanford University School of Law, where he was President of the Class of 1979. He is married to Leslie Annett Wiley and resides in the District of Columbia. Mr. Irving serves on the PBS National Policy Advisory Committee and Strategic Planning Advisory Group.
New General Director
Donald A. Baer
Don Baer is Worldwide Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of the strategic communications firm, Burson-Marsteller. His career has spanned leading roles as a media and communications executive in the public and private sectors, working for some of the world’s most important business, government and not-for-profit organizations. He has had extensive strategic, operational and creative experience at the White House, global companies and U.S. media organizations.
In 2008, Don became Worldwide Vice Chairman of strategic communications firm Burson-Marsteller and Chairman of market research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland, both WPP, Inc. companies. Don leads major engagements and provides strategic counsel, especially for top technology, communications and media companies. In 2010, he was also named Chief Strategy Officer of Burson-Marsteller, taking on an additional leadership role for the firm’s worldwide management. As of 2011, he is also the co-founder and chairman of Palisades Media Ventures, co-owned with WPP, a new digital production company bringing innovative approaches to sponsored public affairs content. From 1998 to 2007, Don helped lead Discovery Communications, home of the Discovery Channel and media properties in over 170 countries. As Senior Executive Vice President for Strategy and Development, reporting to the CEO, he was a member of the executive committee. He led global brand-building efforts; new ventures and acquisitions; new media strategy and operations, and corporate-level business development, communications, research and public policy. He managed the significant growth of Discovery’s online offerings, including acquisitions of digital media businesses and the launch of its mobile video services. He led Discovery’s expansion of public affairs content, including overseeing the Discovery/New York Times Company joint venture in the Discovery Times Channel, helping to hire Ted Koppel, and producing a documentary series with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times. Don managed Discovery’s partnership with the American Film Institute to create Silverdocs, America’s top documentary festival.
Before Discovery, Don was in public service, journalism and law. From 1994-97, he was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton. As Assistant to the President, White House Director of Strategic Planning and Communications and, before, as Director of Speechwriting and Research/Chief Speechwriter, Don was widely recognized for his key role in the Clinton Presidency, including the historic 1996 re-election. Don managed across multiple government agencies, including domestic and foreign policy, to build integrated message strategies and operations. Among other roles, he spearheaded numerous historic Presidential addresses, working on every State of the Union from 1995 – 2000. From 1985 – 93, Don was a journalist. At U.S. News and World Report, he covered politics and the White House and, as an assistant managing editor, oversaw national and international coverage. He also worked at The American Lawyer and has written for publications including The New York Times and POLITICO. He was a CBS News analyst in 1998-99 and has appeared on many national TV news shows. Since 2000, he has been a writer for the annual Kennedy Center Honors TV production, winning two Writers Guild of America awards.
In the 1980s, Don was a media lawyer at New York’s Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. He serves as an advisor to several new media businesses and is a venture partner in Legend Ventures, a Washington, D.C. investment firm. He serves on not-for-profit boards including the PBS Foundation and the News Literacy Project, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Don received a B.A. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa), a Master's in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a J.D. from The University of Virginia School of Law. Don lives with his wife, Nancy Bard, and two sons in Washington, D.C.
New Professional Director
Don Boswell
Don Boswell, President and CEO of the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (WNED-TV/AM/FM), is a public broadcasting veteran of nearly 42 years, having held positions with North Texas Public Broadcasting Inc. in Dallas, KCTS in Seattle, and WVIA-TV/FM in Pittston, Pennsylvania prior to joining WNED in January of 1998.
The Pittsburgh native is the recipient of numerous PBS professional awards and five national program Emmy awards. He continues his long history of community service on the boards of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), AAA, Greater Buffalo Convention and Visitors Bureau, University at Buffalo Foundation, HealthNow NY, Inc., National Conference for Community and Justice, the P2 Collaborative, New Era Cap Company and the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre. In Canada, Mr. Boswell serves on the Board of the Red Sky Theatre and on the International Advisory Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Married and the father of one daughter, Mr. Boswell holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University and a Management Development Certificate from the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.
He is a philatelist, golfer, and photographer.
Reelected Professional Directors (Elected August 2011)
Malcolm Brett
Malcolm Brett is the Director of Broadcasting and Media Innovations - University of Wisconsin – Extension (UWEX) and General Manager of WHA-TV, the flagship station of Wisconsin Public Television. He oversees the University’s public radio and public television stations which are part of Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio. He also oversees UWEX’s distance learning facilities, Instructional Communications Systems and the National Center for Media Engagement. Mr. Brett has also served as the Director of Television for Wisconsin Public Television. In that role he oversaw the network’s University and State licensee stations. During the past 27 years at WPT, Mr. Brett has served as director of development as well as production manager for the national show "The New Tech Times." His extensive knowledge of public television includes development, production management, strategic planning, budgeting, government relations and community relations. He was named PBS Development Professional of the Year in 1998 for his system-wide contributions and for his leadership of WPT’s development program. Mr. Brett led WPT's digital conversion, and has helped guide, design, fund or implement various of WPT's national public television models including - Portal Wisconsin, the National Center for Community Engagement, Wisconsin World War II Stories and Wisconsin Hometown Stories. Along with colleagues at WPSU and WOSU, Brett led the development of University Place, which is built on multicast, Internet streaming and VOD opportunities for University licensed PTV stations. Mr. Brett served on Wisconsin’s Sesquicentennial celebration commission. He established and chaired the Wisconsin Cultural Coalition and led its support for Portal Wisconsin. Mr. Brett serves on the Board of American Public Television, the Board of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, the Board of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and is Chair of the University Licensee Association.
Ruby Calvert
Ruby Calvert is General Manager for Wyoming PBS, a full-service PBS station that covers approximately 85% of Wyoming, with 23 full-time employees. In her capacity as GM, she is also the President of the Wyoming PBS Foundation, which manages all fundraising for Wyoming PBS, and the co-chair for the Wyoming PBS Advisory Council, a state oversight council. She has been at the station since its inception in 1983, serving as the Director of Programming for 23 years, and supervising Production, Promotion & Education Services at various times during her tenure. In 1990, she led the production team in producing the signature series “Main Street, Wyoming,” which now has a library of over 200 programs.
Ms. Calvert was recently elected as Vice Chair of the University Licensee Association (2011), and was also appointed to serve on the PBS Learning Media Station Advisory Council (2011). On the PBS Board she serves on the PBS Station Services, Interconnection and National Policy Advisory Committees, as well as the Diversity Task Force. She also currently serves on Sen. Mike Enzi’s Academy Appointment Committee for Wyoming, and was recently appointed to serve on the Advisory Board of the Wyoming Land Trust.
She is a former member and Board Chair of the Wyoming State Board of Education (2000 – 2006), and also former member and Board Chair of the Riverton Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees (1999-2004). In 2005, she was selected to participate in “Leadership Wyoming”, with 40 other Wyoming leaders. She has served on the Community Resource Board for the Wyoming Job Corps, and just concluded a 3 year term as Secretary for both Riverton Rotary and Riverton Rotary Foundation. Ms. Calvert has her B.A. in English, Secondary Education from the University of Wyoming.
Paula Castadio
As President and CEO of ValleyPBS/KVPT, Paula Castadio leads a medium-size station serving 2.5 million citizens in California’s Central Valley. Mrs. Castadio has successfully stabilized and grown KVPT over the years, creating a vital public television service in a market commonly referred to as the “Western Appalachia.” Despite the challenges faced in the Valley, an emphasis on local service and innovation has always shaped the station’s direction. Her broadcasting career began in public radio in 1989. In 1994, she transitioned to ValleyPBS/KVPT as Development Director, then to Station Manager, becoming President & CEO in 2003. She has dedicated 22 years to public broadcasting and is responsible for numerous local, regional and state-wide productions. Mrs. Castadio holds a BA Degree in Speech Communication and an MBA. She is Treasurer of the California Public Television Association, a former Chair for the Pacific Mountain Network and Member of APTS. She has served nationally on the PBS Development Advisory Council, Communications Advisory Council, Premier Sponsorship Task Force and CPB Digital Distribution Fund Panel. As a PBS Board Member, she Chairs the PBS Diversity Task Force and serves on the Strategic Planning Advisory Group, Station Services Committee, and PBS Dues Review Task Force. Locally, she is Chair of the Fresno Business Council’s Media Cluster, a second-year Director for the 300-member Rotary Club of Fresno and holds leadership positions in the arts education and cultural arts sectors. She was named among the “Top Ten Business and Professional Women” of Fresno County. Mrs. Castadio dedicates herself to the mission of PBS and KVPT, and is responsive to the interests and needs of the community and public service media.
About PBS
PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches 124 million people through television and 20 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
CONTACT:
Jan McNamara, 703-739-5028, jmcnamara@pbs.org
