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Jeff Clarke was appointed President and CEO of KQED Public Broadcasting in June 2002. A Wisconsin native, Clarke has a broadcasting career that spans 38 years with more than 25 years in public broadcasting. Prior to joining KQED, Clarke spent twelve years in Houston, Texas, where he was chief executive officer and general manager of Houston PBS/KUHT, holding that position since 1992. Clarke led a successful capital campaign to support digital conversion and build a brand-new state-of-the-art facility, the LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, which now houses both Houston PBS/KUHT (one of the first public television stations in the nation to deliver its digital television signal into homes via Time Warner cable) and KUHF-FM, its sister National Public Radio station.
Before his arrival at HoustonPBS/KUHT, Clarke served as director of programming and production and Deputy Director of Television for Wisconsin Public Television, a six-station public television network. He also served as executive producer of the national PBS series The New Tech Times, and was manager of news and public affairs at KETC-TV, St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to his work in public broadcasting Clarke worked as a journalist, correspondent and news anchor in commercial radio and television and with the American Forces Radio and Television service.
Clarke is currently a member of the PBS board of directors, serving on the executive and membership committees, and as chair of the technology and distribution committee. Clarke also serves as chair of the board of directors of the PBS subsidiary, National DataCast Incorporated (NDI) and as a member of the board of directors for the Boston Based programming distribution service, American Public Television (APT). In addition, Clarke has served on the boards of America's Public Television Stations (APTS), the Southern Educational Communications Association (SECA) and the Central Educational Network (CEN). Clarke is also an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow.
In the Bay Area Clarke serves as a Governor of the Commonwealth Club of California, as a Trustee of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and as a member of the Asia Society Advisory Board. He and his wife Gail have been longtime Habitat for Humanity volunteers and were a "wish team" for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast while in Houston.
Clarke has won numerous awards in his distinguished career, including five local Emmy nominations; a silver medal from the New York International Film Festival for the national PBS series, The New Tech Times; Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) local program awards; and numerous Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) news awards during his career as a television anchor and correspondent.
Clarke graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA in radio, television and film. He earned an MA in communication arts-with an emphasis in film-from the University of Wisconsin.
Clarke received an honorable discharge as a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force after his service during the Vietnam era from June 1966 to November 1969.
Clarke and his spouse Gail have one daughter, Melissa. She and her family reside in Houston, Texas. Clarke and his wife live in Mill Valley, California. | 