Hartford N. Gunn Jr.

Hartford N. Gunn Jr. (December 24, 1927 – January 7, 1986) was the founding president of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Early life and education

Gunn was born in December 24, 1927 in Port Washington, on Long Island, New York, to mother Edith Arnold Gunn and father Hartford N. Gunn, who later served as the Town Supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead. In 1948, he graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in King's Point, New York. Gunn received a second bachelor's degree at Harvard University in 1949,

Career

After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1951, Gunn started working at Boston's WGBH-TV.

Over the next five years, he had the role of director of operations before assuming the position of general manager in 1957.

In 1970 he was chosen as the first president of the Public Broadcasting Service, at least in part due to his "widely acknowledged success in the 1960s at the Boston television station WGBH".

Death On January 2, 1986, Gunn died of multi-focal leukoencephalopathy – a rare, cancer-related illness – at Massachusetts General Hospital,aged 59.