Ralph Burton Rogers (November 30, 1909 – November 4, 1997) was an American

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

executive, called the "Founding Father of the Public Broadcasting Service."

Biography

He was born on November 30, 1909, in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He was educated at

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

. As a businessman, Rogers worked for or ran many industrial firms, including

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

Diesel Engine and

Indian Motorcycles Indian Motorcycle (or ''Indian'') is an American brand of motorcycles owned and produced by automotive manufacturer Polaris Inc.

. In 1950, he started work with Texas Industries in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and by 1951 he was chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of this company. It became a Fortune 500 company with many interests but remains focused on cement production. Rogers became civically and politically active in the 1960s. In 1972, he is credited with saving the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

during the

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

Administration. As chairman of PBS (1973-1979) he organized more than 200 independent stations into a national television system. He later co-founded the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...

, and became a significant philanthropist, primarily in the

area. He died on November 4, 1997.

Awards and honors

* Horatio Alger Award. According to the

Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to promote and ensure the American Dream for future generations, honor the achievements of outstanding Am ...

, the award "symbolizes the Association's values, including personal initiative and perseverance, leadership and commitment to excellence, belief in the free-enterprise system and the importance of higher education, community service, and the vision and determination to achieve a better future." * 1978 Ralph Lowell Award, by which the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...

"recognizes outstanding contributions and achievements to public television."

References

External links

Ralph B. Rogers papers
at the

University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...

1909 births 1997 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople Sesame Workshop people 20th-century American businesspeople Boston Latin School alumni Northeastern University alumni Businesspeople from Boston PBS people American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations 20th-century American philanthropists Philanthropists from Massachusetts {{US-CEO-stub

Biography

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links