Pat Mitchell

Pat Mitchell (born January 20, 1943) is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) in New York City and the former President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

She resigned from PBS in March 2006 and was replaced by the current CEO, Paula Kerger, formerly of New York's PBS station, WNET. At PBS, she was named President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2000, the first woman and first producer and journalist to hold the position.

Mitchell retired as President and CEO of The Paley Center in May 2014, and was named the center's Executive Chairman.

History

A former classroom teacher and college instructor, Mitchell has had a three-decade career in media. She received her A.B. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of Georgia, where she was initiated into the Alpha Alpha chapter of Phi Mu. Before working for PBS, Mitchell worked for three broadcast networks and several cable channels, and she achieved success both in front of and behind the camera as a reporter, news anchor, talk show host, White House and special correspondent, producer and executive. In the mid 1980s, she established her own independent production company that produced documentaries, series, and specials for broadcast, cable, and national syndication. In 1992, Mitchell became an executive in charge of original productions for Ted Turner’s cable networks. Over the next eight years, as executive producer, her documentaries and specials received thirty-seven Emmy Awards, five Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations.