WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate has confirmed the nominations of Thomas E. Rothman and the renominations of Laura Gore Ross and Elizabeth M. Sembler to the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
Rothman, of Los Angeles, is Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group. He has held numerous executive positions in the film industry and is a longstanding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and board member of the California Institute of the Arts. He has served on the National Council on the Arts is also an emeritus member of the Corporation of Brown University and of the Sundance Institute Board. He will serve a term expiring in 2026.
Ross, of New York City, is a retired attorney with a career in public service. Her professional experience includes the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, MFY Legal Services, eight years as Chief of Staff to the Attorney General of the State of New York, and subsequently, Legislative Counsel to a New York State Senator. She began government service at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and was appointed by President Obama to represent the United States at the 64th United Nations General Assembly. She has served as a Trustee of New York Public Media (WNET, WLIW, and NJTV), a Trustee of WNYC Public Radio, and President of NYANA, a refugee resettlement agency. She will serve a term expiring in 2028.
Sembler, of Seminole, Fla., is a retired educator and administrator, most recently as director of engagement at Congregation B’nai Israel in St. Petersburg, Fla. She served on CPB’s board of directors from 2008–2020 and was board chair from 2014–16. Sembler has also been a board chair for WEDU PBS in Tampa, Fla., where she is still a serving board member, and is a former board member for America’s Public Television Stations. She will serve a term expiring in 2026.
America’s Public Television Stations added their congratulations to the new and returning board members.
“Ms. Sembler has been an eloquent and passionate leader in the public broadcasting community for decades, having served as the chair of the board of WEDU PBS in Tampa, Fla., on our board at America’s Public Television Stations and on the CPB board since 2008. She has been an extraordinarily effective champion for local public television and radio stations, both on the local and national level.
“Ms. Ross’s impressive background in government service and community affairs has earned her tremendous respect, not only in the public broadcasting community, where she has served on the board of The WNET Group for three years and WNYC for seven years, but also throughout the state of New York. Her re-nomination to the CPB board is a testament to her dedication and work on behalf of public media.
“And Mr. Rothman brings broad experience and a vast knowledge of the film and television industry to this new role, which will be immensely helpful as the public media system continues to evolve, finding new and innovative ways to serve all Americans.
“We commend President Biden for these nominations and the Senate for these confirmations. We look forward to working with the entire CPB board to continue to advance public television’s missions of education, public safety and civic leadership.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services.
