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PBS BOARD ELECTS OFFICERS, PROFESSIONAL AND GENERAL DIRECTORS
Donald A. Baer, Jack Galmiche and Molly Corbett Broad Elected Board Chair, Professional Vice-Chair and General Vice-Chair
General Directors Selected and Professional Directors Seated at October Meeting
ARLINGTON, VA, October 29, 2014 Paula Kerger, PBS President and Chief Executive Officer, announced the results of the 2014 PBS Board elections after the recent Board meeting in Arlington, VA. The Board elected Burson-Marsteller Worldwide Chair & CEO Don Baer, The Irving Group President & CEO Larry Irving, and Bank of Hawaii Former Chairman & CEO Al Landon to serve a second term as General Directors. American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad was re-elected to the Board, having served from 2007 to 2013. The Board also selected the following Board officers: Mr. Baer as Board Chair, Ms. Broad as General Vice-Chair, and KETC/St. Louis President & CEO Jack Galmiche as Professional Vice-Chair. Mr. Baer most recently held the office of General Vice-Chair. Ms. Broad was General Vice-Chair during her previous term.
In addition, WNED/Buffalo President & CEO Don Boswell, WCTE/Cookeville President & CEO Becky Magura, WNET/New York President & CEO Neal Shapiro and KUHT/Houston Executive Director & General Manager Lisa Shumate were seated at their first Board meeting since being voted in as Professional Directors in August. Mr. Boswell is serving for a second term while the others are first-time directors.
I am tremendously grateful to the PBS Board, which is a group of dedicated and talented leaders who give generously of their time and expertise, said Ms. Kerger. Recent Nielsen data shows that PBS finished the 2013-2014 season with a dramatic increase in viewership, moving PBS to the 5th largest primetime household rating among all broadcast and cable networks. It is during such moments of success that it is even more critical to seize opportunities, to push forward and continue to innovate, experiment and be bold. The 2014-2015 Board includes the right combination of skills and commitment to help move our system forward and build an even stronger public service enterprise for the American people.
The 27-person PBS Board includes both Professional Directors, who are station leaders, and General Directors, who serve as lay members of the Board, as well as the PBS President. The PBS Board of Directors is responsible for governing and setting policy for PBS. General and Professional Directors of the PBS Board are elected to three-year terms and serve without pay.
PBS member stations elect the Professional Directors. The General Directors are elected by the Board, which also appoints the PBS President and Chief Executive Officer. The entire Board of Directors elects its officers.
Biographical Information
Donald A. Baer (Newly Elected Board Chair & Returning General Director)
Donald A. Baer, Worldwide Chair and CEO of global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller. Mr. Baer has been a member of Burson-Marsteller's global senior management team since 2008, while also leading major engagements for clients in every sector and part of the world, especially for top technology, communications and media companies.
His career has spanned leading roles as a media and communications executive for a wide range of important business, government and non-profit organizations. He has had extensive strategic, creative and operational experience at the White House, major global companies and media organizations.
From 1998 to 2007, Mr. Baer helped lead global media company Discovery Communications. As Senior Executive Vice President for Strategy and Development and an executive committee member, reporting to the CEO, he led worldwide marketing efforts; business development including new ventures and acquisitions; new media strategy/operations; and corporate-level business development, communications, research and public policy. He drove significant growth in Discovery's online offerings, including acquisitions of digital businesses and the launch of its first mobile video services, and oversaw the Discovery/New York Times Company joint venture in the Discovery Times Channel. As a producer, he supervised Discovery's public affairs content, including the 2004 Emmy Award-winning series Decisions That Shook the World and a documentary series with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times. Mr. Baer managed Discovery's partnership with the American Film Institute to create the documentary festival Silverdocs.
From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Baer was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton. As an Assistant to the President and White House Director of Strategic Planning and Communications and, before, as Chief Speechwriter/Director of Speechwriting and Research, Mr. Baer was widely recognized for his key role in the Clinton Presidency, including the historic 1996 re-election. In addition to managing an integrated message strategy across domestic and foreign policy agencies, he led the development of many major Presidential addresses and worked on every State of the Union from 1995 to 2000.
From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Baer was a journalist. For seven years, at U.S. News & 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, has written for publications including The New York Times and POLITICO, was a CBS News on-air analyst and has appeared on many TV news shows. Since 2000, he has helped write the annual Kennedy Center Honors TV production, winning two Writers Guild of America awards. In the 1980s, Mr. Baer was a media lawyer at New York's Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.
In addition to his new role as Chair of the PBS Board of Directors, Mr. Baer serves on the Boards of the Urba
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