Patricia Harrison
Patricia Harrison | |
|---|---|
 Harrison speaking at the annual Public Radio Program Directors Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, September 2011 | |
| President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting | |
| Assumed office June 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Kathleen A. Cox |
| 10th Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs | |
| In office October 2, 2001 – July 1, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | William B. Bader |
| Succeeded by | Dina Powell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patricia de Stacy Harrison 1939 (age 86–87) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Education | American University (BA) |
Patricia de Stacy Harrison (born 1939)[1] is an American public relations executive and government official serving as president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a non-profit established by the federal government to support public radio and television broadcasting.[2] The CPB was dissolved on January 5, 2026, under her executive leadership.
Early life and education
[edit]Harrison is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She earned a bachelor's degree from the American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C.[3]
Career
[edit]In 1973 she co-founded a public relations agency with her husband, the E. Bruce Harrison Company, which was sold in a merger in 1996. According to her biography posted by the Bush administration, Harrison "created and directed programs in the public interest comprising diverse stakeholder groups, including the National Environmental Development Association, a partnership of labor, agriculture and industry working for better environmental solutions together."[3]
In fact, the National Environmental Development Association was created as a pro-industry, anti-environmental regulation PR group,[4] which worked closely with the American Petroleum Institute[5] and others to promote climate change denial. The E. Bruce Harrison Company also designed the PR campaign for the Global Climate Coalition, the largest and most prominent industry advocate in international climate negotiations against climate action.[6] E. Bruce Harrison Company's greatest success, according to journalist Jane McMullen, was in mounting industry opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and preventing the United States from ever ratifying it.[7]
George H. W. Bush appointed Harrison to the President's Export Council in the United States Department of Commerce in 1990. She was elected co-chair of the Republican National Committee in 1997, serving until 2001, when she was appointed to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell.[3] Under Harrison's direction, the State Department initiated the CultureConnect program in which American celebrities including YoYo Ma, Denyce Graves, Doris Roberts and Frank McCourt acted as "cultural ambassadors" in trips to Pakistan, Russia, Israel, and other countries.
In June 2005, Harrison was appointed president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, despite allegations of bias and having no background or experience in broadcasting.[8] Later that year, the process by which she was selected was called into question by a report from the Inspector General of the CPB. The report concluded that then-CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson "was strongly motivated by political considerations in filling the president/CEO position".[9] Tomlinson resigned from the CPB board on November 4, 2005 and was replaced by Cheryl Halpern. Harrison is the CPB president and CEO as of January 2021[update].[10] In 2015, Harrison gave public support to the work of the David Lynch Foundation.[11]
On January 5, 2026, the CPB board of directors voted to dissolve the organization. Harrison described the closure as necessary to "protect the integrity of the public media system".[12]
Books
[edit]- Patricia Harrison (ed), America's New Women Entrepreneurs: Tips, Tactics, and Techniques of Women Achievers in Business, Acropolis Books, May 1986, ISBN 0-87491-810-3
- Patricia Harrison, Seat At The Table: An Insider's Guide for America's New Women Leaders, Mastermedia Publishing Company, February 1996, ISBN 1-57101-042-4
Speeches
[edit]- Patricia Harrison, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, "The Role of International Education in the Struggle Against Terrorism", U.S. Department of State, November 25, 2003
- Pat Harrison, "Ask the White House", The White House, March 12, 2004
References
[edit]- ^ "Patricia DeStacy Harrison (1939–)". Department of State. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ "Patricia de Stacy Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer". Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Biography of Patricia de Stacy Harrison—Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs". The White House Archives (Pres. George Bush). U.S. Government. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Brulle, Robert; Aronczyk, Melissa (2019). "Environmental countermovements: Organised opposition to climate change in the United States". In Kalfagianni, Agni; Fuchs, Doris; Hayden, Anders (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Governance. Taylor & Francis. pp. 218–230. ISBN 9781351691291. OCLC 1125109561.
- ^ Dreyfuss, Robert (November 19, 2001). "Toxic Cash: How Lobbyists Poisoned the EPA". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ Brulle, Robert J. (11 April 2022). "Advocating inaction: a historical analysis of the Global Climate Coalition". Environmental Politics. 32 (2). Taylor&Francis Online: 185–206. doi:10.1080/09644016.2022.2058815. S2CID 248112482.
The GCC expanded its efforts by hiring E. Bruce Harrison Inc. (EBH) to conduct a comprehensive PR campaign to support the GCC's position. The objective of this campaign was to shift the climate debate and would thus involve communications efforts to promote uncertainty about climate science, attract support for the GCC's position on climate change, and to foster third-party experts to validate what the GCC was saying...it is clear that the GCC engaged in an extensive effort to undermine climate science through both disputing scientific findings and attacking the credibility and character of climate scientists. As noted in the GCC Communications Plan (E. B. Harrison Inc Citation1995), one of the key objectives of the coalition was to focus on the 'continued uncertainty of the science'.
- ^ McMullen, Jane (23 July 2022). "The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change". BBC.
- ^ Shiver, Jube; Gold, Matea (June 24, 2005). "Ex-GOP leader gets key public TV post". San Francisco Chronicle. Los Angeles Times. p. A8.
- ^ Review of Alleged Actions Violating The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as Amended (PDF) (Report). Corporation For Public Broadcasting Office of Inspector General. November 15, 2005. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ "Patricia de Stacy Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer". www.cpb.org. 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Women in the Media Who Meditate". David Lynch Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
Eight nationally renowned women leaders in the media who meditate gathered on April 16, 2015 in New York City to raise awareness about the benefits of the evidence-based Transcendental Meditation technique for overcoming stress, improving performance, and enhancing work-life balance in their lives.
- ^ Bauder, David (January 5, 2026). "Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence". Associated Press. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- "Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board Votes to Dissolve Organization in Act of Responsible Stewardship to Protect the Future of Public Media" (Press release). Corporation for Public Broadcasting. January 5, 2026.