America's Public Television Stations (APTS) Announce Election of Board Officers and Trustees Including Re-Election of PBS SoCal/KCET's Andrew Russell as Chair

Press Contact for PBS SoCal/KCET

JP Shields
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Press Contact for APTS

Stacey Karp
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202.654.4222

Los Angeles, Calif. – Feb. 3, 2022 – PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern California’s flagship PBS stations as well as the home for award-winning, original local content, announced today that the organizations’ President/CEO Andrew Russell has been re-elected Chair of America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) who yesterday announced the election of the nonprofit membership organization’s board leaders and board members. APTS ensures a strong and financially sound public television system and helps member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people.

In addition to the announcement of Russell being re-elected Chair was the announcement of additional board officers and trustees that included Susi Elkins, Director of Broadcasting and General Manager of WKAR Public Media at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, re-elected Professional Vice Chair and David Steward II, Immediate Past Board Chair of Nine PBS in St. Louis, Missouri, re-elected Lay Vice Chair. As well as newly-elected trustees:

• Annette Herrington, Commissioner of Arkansas PBS in Conway, Arkansas, as a lay trustee.
• John D. Zeglis, Retired Chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, former President of AT&T, and a member of the board of WNIT Public TV of South Bend, Indiana, as an at-large trustee.

Re-elected to the APTS Board of Trustees are:

• Carolyn Edwards, Lay Trustee of Vegas PBS in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Susi Elkins, Director of Broadcasting and General Manager, of WKAR Public Media/MI State University in East Lansing, Michigan
• Franz Joachim, General Manager and CEO of New Mexico PBS in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Garrett King, Board Member, Friends of OETA in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Vickie Lawson, President and CEO of East Tennessee PBS in Knoxville, Tennessee
• David Steward II, Immediate Past Board Chair, Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis, Missouri

John Zeglis began his board term on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. The officers and other trustees will begin their terms on Monday, February 28, 2022.

Andrew Russell is a 25-year veteran of public broadcasting, and has held senior executive leadership positions at PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Russell joined PBS SoCal as COO in 2013 and played a key role in building PBS SoCal into the role of flagship PBS station for Southern California. Named CEO in 2015, Russell has driven rapid growth in the station’s viewership, membership and revenues, increased content distribution, and forged new partnerships with major Southern California arts and cultural institutions. In 2018, Russell led merger efforts to combine PBS SoCal with KCETLink Media Group (KCET and Link TV) to form the Public Media Group of Southern California. The merger created a center for public media innovation and a powerful PBS flagship organization on the West Coast that serves the more than 19 million people living in the Southern California region. Russell assumed the role of President and CEO of the three entities. The new organization has been expanding its production of original programs that serve the diverse community in Southern California and the nation, and innovating and growing its local education and community engagement services. Through its three content channels – PBS SoCal, KCET and LINK TV – the organization provides a dynamic library of programs available for streaming on any internet-connected screen, on seven Southern California broadcast channels, and on one national satellite channel. A California native, Russell holds an MBA from Stanford University, an MPA from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. He serves on the Internet Action Team of the Committee for Greater Los Angeles, the Board of the Los Angeles City Club and is a Member of the CEO Roundtable at UC Irvine.

Following is background on the additional board officers:

Susi Elkins is Director of Broadcasting and General Manager of WKAR Public Media at Michigan State University (MSU). WKAR is home to public radio and television for the Michigan capital region, bringing the best of PBS, PBS KIDS, NPR, Classical music, and award-winning original content to more than 500,000 mid-Michigan residents each week. Under Elkins’ leadership, WKAR established a strategic plan focused on expanding, diversifying, and engaging audiences. Elkins also played a key role in the launch of the statewide educational channel, Michigan Learning Channel, led the launch of a new WKAR News/Talk FM station for the capital region, and strengthened local news coverage with an emphasis on education and public affairs reporting. In collaboration with MSU, Elkins led the effort to launch the first ATSC 3.0 experimental station licensed to a public media organization and established WKAR’s NextGen Media Innovation Lab to accelerate development of public service applications, including the launch of a NextGen TV Course, through the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) Public Media Learns platform. During Elkins’ tenure, WKAR has established and fully funded three endowments to support experiential learning opportunities for students, education services, and original content creation. Elkins holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication and a master’s degree in educational technology, both from MSU, and currently serves on the PBS Board, the board of the Reseda Group, the University Licensee Association Executive Council (ULA), and is a Public Media Diversity Fellow at The Riley Institute, Furman University.

David Steward, II is an Academy Award®-winning producer who owns and operates multiple companies with a mission of creating, discovering, and highlighting multicultural and diverse content in the entertainment industry. In 2018, Steward founded Polarity, a holding company to oversee the operations of a portfolio of companies. The companies offer an array of content offerings including graphic novels and comics, animated television, streaming and cinematic features, and gaming. Key portfolio companies include Oni Lion Forge Publishing Group, the European publishing house Magnetic Press, the original content developer Illustrated Syndicate, the animation studio Lion Forge Animation, and Lion Forge Labs. In 2019, Polarity launched the Lion Forge Animation Studio, credited for producing the Hair Love short film, distributed by Sony Pictures Animation, and winner for “Best Animated Short” in the 2020 Academy Awards®. Lion Forge Animation has gained recognition for highlighting animators of color and in 2021 was named one of Fast Company Magazine’s Most Innovative Companies in the World, placing #3 in the film and TV category. Steward graduated Magna Cum Laude from American University in 1998 with a B.S.B.A. in International Marketing. In addition, Steward served as an executive board member for the local chapter of the Habitat for Humanity. He is a current board member of Nine PBS, and the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

Following is background on the newly-elected board members:

Commissioner Annette Herrington
Little Rock native Annette Herrington was appointed by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to the Arkansas PBS Commission in March 2012 and reappointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson to a second term which runs through March 2028. Herrington has served as Arkansas PBS Treasurer, Vice Chair, Chair of the ARPBS Executive Director Search Committee and Chair of ARPBS. She was also recently re-elected to the Arkansas PBS Foundation Board. She has represented Arkansas PBS at several annual PBS and APTS events in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. Herrington and her husband Phil, along with former U.S. Senator David Pryor and Barbara, were delighted to host the entire Antiques Roadshow cast and crew in the Herrington home when the Roadshow filmed in Little Rock in 2015.

Herrington has also served 18 years on the Board of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), serving as President, Treasurer, a member of the CALS Executive Director Search Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, as well as a Founding Member of the CALS Foundation Board. She has been active at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts as Treasurer of the AMFA Tabriz Gala, a member of the CHI St. Vincent Hospital Women’s Advisory Board, a Board member of the Bess Chism Stephens YWCA, a member of the Development Council of Harding University, and other civic and charitable organizations in Central Arkansas.

A Certified Public Accountant, Herrington has experience on private company boards and projects from New York to Utah. She and her husband of 48 years have two married daughters and two grandsons who live in Seattle, Washington.

John D. Zeglis
John D. Zeglis is the retired chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, and was President of AT&T prior to the spin-off of AT&T Wireless as a public company in 2000. Most recently he was the founder and chairman of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which played eight seasons in the NBA’s D-League before their sale to the Indiana Pacers in August of 2015.

Zeglis grew up in Momence, Illinois. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, B.S. Finance, 1969, and the Harvard Law School, J.D. 1972. He also did a post-graduate year of European study on Knox Memorial Fellowship. Zeglis began his career as a practicing lawyer and partner in Sidley & Austin, before leaving the law firm to become general counsel of AT&T. There he served in successive positions of increasing responsibility until becoming Vice Chairman and President, and ultimately Chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless in 2000.

Zeglis has been a member of numerous boards of directors of corporations and not-for-profit enterprises. He currently a member of the boards of trustees of the Culver Educational Foundation, Culver, Indiana; the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center of Mishawaka, Indiana (chairman); Manchester University; the Center for Professional Responsibility at the University of Illinois; Indiana Landmarks Commission; the Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth; WNIT Public TV of South Bend; American’s Public Television Stations; and the Maxinkuckee Country Club.

Zeglis has been married to Carol (Hamm) since 1969. They have three children – Mark of Ann Arbor, MI; Julie (husband Jeff) of Fort Wayne, IN; and Brian (wife Emily) of New York City, NY. Zeglis and Carol have nine grandchildren.

APTS is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in all forms to reflect the society that public television serves. Its affiliate APTS Action, Inc. promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy and through grassroots campaigns designed to garner bipartisan political support. The public television system is comprised of 158 licensees operating 356 public television stations across America and serving more than 97 percent of the American people. About half of these licensees are nonprofit community foundations. The rest are State, university and local school district licensees. All are locally owned, locally operated and locally oriented in their programming and community services, and all share a mission of serving everyone, everywhere, every day for free – including in places where no model for commercial success exists.

Join the conversation on social media using #APTS using @kcet and @pbssocal as well.

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About APTS

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.

About PBS SoCal and KCET

PBS SoCal and KCET are both part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California. PBS SoCal is the flagship PBS station for diverse people across California and delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and educate. PBS SoCal offers the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, and a broad library of documentary films with works from Ken Burns; as well as educational content including PBS KIDS programs like DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and CURIOUS GEORGE. KCET showcases the best of PBS and is a leading source for arts, culture, and news in Southern California. Through innovative storytelling, KCET explores and expresses our dynamic local communities helping residents understand and connect with the region's diverse communities and ideas. For additional information about both KCET and PBS SoCal productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org and pbssocal.org KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.