Ward Chamberlin Jr. dead; public broadcasting pioneer was 95

Undated photo of Ward B. Chamberlin Jr., who helped set... — Undated photo of Ward B. Chamberlin Jr., who helped set up the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and went on to serve 15 years as president and chief executive of WETA, the Washington, D.C.-area public radio and television station. Credit: Photo courtesy WNET

By The Associated PressFebruary 28, 2017

Ward B. Chamberlin Jr., who pioneered public broadcasting, led stations in New York and Washington and helped launch the career of Oscar-nominated documentarian Ken Burns, has died from complications from dementia. He was 95.

His daughter, Lyn Chamberlin, confirmed Saturday to The Associated Press that her father died Thursday in Bedford, Massachusetts.

She says in a statement that her father was “a man of indomitable spirit, vision, and enormous compassion who touched everyone who ever met him.”

Ward Chamberlin Jr. was born on August 4, 1921. He worked as the operating officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and had a strong role in the creation of PBS and National Public Radio. He had held executive roles at WNET/Thirteen, American Playhouse, PBS and WETA.

— AP

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