The Museum of Television & Radio Names Stuart N. Brotman President
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA—Frank A. Bennack, Jr., chairman of the board of The Museum of Television & Radio, today announced the appointment of Stuart N. Brotman as president, effective March 1, 2004. Mr. Brotman succeeds Robert M. Batscha, who served as the Museum's president from 1981 until his death on July 4, 2003.
"I am very pleased to welcome Stuart Brotman to the Museum following a very exhaustive and thorough search," said Frank A. Bennack, Jr., chairman of The Museum of Television & Radio. "Stuart's diverse and extraordinary background will complement his knowledge of television and radio history and his appreciation for the creativity of the artists who produce the programming that is in the Museum's collection. I am confident that he will advance the Museum's already high standing, ably help define and pursue its mission, and build on the robust foundation."
"Stuart brings an outstanding knowledge of both the telecommunications and entertainment industries to the Museum," said Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating officer of Viacom and cochairman of The Museum of Television & Radio's board of trustees search committee. "His talent and leadership will serve the Museum well as we continue our mission to expand and enrich the collection, present outstanding public programs, and convene executive level discussions on critical communications issues."
Stuart N. Brotman most recently served as president of Stuart N. Brotman Communications, a global consulting firm based in Lexington, Massachusetts. Since 1981, he has provided strategic business, financial, regulatory policy and operations counseling, due diligence evaluations, and management education to corporate CEOs, presidents, and other key executives within the domestic and international telecommunications, Internet, media, entertainment, and sports industries.
Paralleling his more than twenty-year management consulting career, Brotman also has been engaged in a succession of academic endeavors at some of the nation's most distinguished universities. He was Harvard Law School's first faculty member to teach telecommunications and the school's first research fellow in entertainment and media law. Brotman was a member of the nation's largest intellectual property law faculty at the Boston University School of Law, teaching the only advanced seminar on entertainment law offered at any American law school from 1990 to 1998. He taught at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where he also served as a senior fellow at The Fletcher School's Edward R. Murrow Center for International Communications and as an adviser to Fletcher's Program on International Information and Communication.
From 1978 10 1981, Brotman served as special assistant to the President's principal communications policy adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in Washington, D.C. He also served as an information technology fellow in the International Communications Studies
Program at The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., as well as a senior fellow of the Annenberg Washington Program in Communications Policy Studies from 1988 to 1994. He is the first telecommunications fellow of the Eisenhower Fellowships program.
"I have great passion for television and radio, which play such a central role in all of our lives," said Brotman. "The Museum continues to be the premier trust of television and radio's heritage and a place for all of us to commemorate and celebrate how these media convey artistic excellence, historic significance, and social impact."
Brotman continued, "I have been a loyal patron for the past twenty-five years, and have marveled how the Museum captures our collective memory. Its extraordinary collection, including programs from more than seventy countries, is unparalleled. I look forward to working with a superb staff, a dedicated chairman and board of trustees, as well as the Museum's Los Angeles board of governors, and the boards of the International Council and the MT&R Media Center," Brotman concluded.
Brotman has written over 300 articles and reviews that have appeared in scholarly and professional publications. He is the author or editor of four books, including Communications Law and Practice, a comprehensive treatise covering domestic and international common carrier and electronic mass media regulation.
Brotman received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where he served as note and comment editor of the California Law Review. He received his M.A. in Communications from the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in communications regulation and policy. He received his B.S. in Communication Studies and Mass Media, summa cum laude, from Northwestern University.
The Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, is a nonprofit organization founded by William S. Paley to collect and preserve television and radio programs and advertisements and to make them available to the public. Since opening in 1976, the Museum has organized exhibitions, screening and listening series, seminars, and education classes to showcase its collection of over 100,000 television and radio programs and advertisements. Programs in the Museum's permanent collection are selected for their artistic, cultural, and historic significance.
The Museum of Television & Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in Manhattan, is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The Museum of Television & Radio in California, located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Both Museums are closed on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. The public areas in both Museums are accessible to wheelchairs, and assisted listening devices are available. Programs are subject to change. You may call the Museum in New York at (212) 621-6800, or in Los Angeles at (310) 786-1000. Visit the Museum's website at www.mtr.org.