President
WGBH, Boston

Henry Becton, Jr. is President of Boston public broadcaster WGBH, a position he has held since 1984. WGBH is the leading producer of programs and Web content for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as well as a major supplier of public radio programs and a pioneer in educational, interactive media and in services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans with hearing or vision loss.

WGBH programs comprise about a third of the PBS prime-time schedule, reaching an estimated audience of 35 million people per week nationwide. Under Henry’s leadership, WGBH has provided some of television’s best-known programs, including Nova, Frontline, American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, This Old House, The Victory Garden, Masterpiece Theatre, Mystery!, Real Simple and Simply Ming. These ongoing PBS series are joined by important and timely specials like Rx for Survival and Africans in America and Vietnam: A Television History. WGBH also is the source of such landmark children’s series as Arthur, Zoom, Between the Lions, and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Companion Web sites extend and expand the impact of WGBH’s productions. WGBH is the single largest supplier of content to pbs.org, the most-visited dot-org on the Internet.

Henry joined WGBH in 1970 as a producer. In 1974, he became Program Manager for Cultural Affairs, and in 1978 he was appointed Vice President and General Manager.

Henry holds a JD degree cum laude from Harvard University, where he began his filmmaking career. In 1965, he graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, earning his undergraduate degree in American Studies. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and served as Chairman of the Yale Broadcasting Corporation. Henry and his wife Jeannie live in Concord, Massachusetts. They have three children.