Jeffrey Gedmin Named President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(Washington, DC–February 2, 2007) The Board of Directors of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has named Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin as the new president of RFE/RL. The Board consists of the members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
In making the announcement on behalf of the Board, Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson said Dr. Gedmin will bring to the job “a blend of experience as a distinguished scholar, writer, administrator and a career devoted to international work.”
Dr. Gedmin will take up his duties as RFE/RL President in March 2007.
The RFE/RL board also praised Jeffrey Trimble for his distinguished service as Acting President of RFE/RL since November 2005, following the resignation of former President Thomas A. Dine.
Since 2001, Dr. Gedmin has served as Director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin. The non-profit, non-partisan organization’s mission is “to foster enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue.”
For five years before that, Dr. Gedmin was Executive Director of The New Atlantic Initiative, a coalition of international institutes, politicians, leading journalists and business executives. Leading supporters and participants included Vaclav Havel, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, and U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Joseph Biden.
Dr. Gedmin has been a frequent contributor to leading U.S. and European newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post and the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as a regular columnist for Die Welt.
Dr. Gedmin has authored and edited several books and served as co-executive producer for two major PBS documentaries. He received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University in German Area Studies.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Gedmin said, “I’m delighted by the opportunity to join this great institution. Its mission has always been dear to my heart and for a number of reasons Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is more important than ever.”
Dr. Gedmin was born in Washington, DC and raised in Northern Virginia.
The candidate search for this position was completed by the firm of Christian and Timbers.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.