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American Legacy Foundation® Welcomes New Board Member

5/18/2009

President & CEO, Donald K. Boswell is a Noted Leader in Broadcast Journalism

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Legacy Foundation welcomes President and Chief Executive Officer of the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, Donald K. Boswell to its board of directors.  He brings years of experience in public broadcasting with a focus on quality educational programs that promote and advance communities. 

Boswell leads the award-winning WNED station in Buffalo, NY. He has won five national program Emmys for television productions, such as "Reading Rainbow" and "The Mark Russell Comedy Specials," which were mainstays on PBS for many years. He has been a long-time supporter of educational programs by leading the station’s partnership with Buffalo Public Schools to provide education for teachers on the use of new technologies in the classroom.  Through his leadership, WNED operated an educational outreach program for people to earn their GEDs.  He went on to lead other educational efforts including the "Ready to Learn" program for pre-school age children to help them with school. 

Dr. Benjamin Chu, Chairman of the American Legacy Board of Directors, and President, Southern California Region, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, said, “Don Boswell will be a great resource to the Board.  He understands how mass communication can be used to educate people about important issues in their lives, such as the negative effects of smoking.  This insight, along with the rest of his rich set of experience and skills, will strengthen the Foundation’s efforts to improve public health nationwide.”

Boswell is dedicated to community partnerships and serves on multiple boards, including but not limited to, the Board of HSBC, University at Buffalo, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, Red Sky Performance and Art Gallery of Ontario.

 “Don Boswell’s experience running the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association will bring us a fresh perspective on community involvement and education,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation.

“It’s an honor to serve on the board of the American Legacy Foundation. Their history and dedication to encouraging young people to reject tobacco is amazing,” said Boswell.  “I believe public broadcasting has a role and duty to support their national efforts in the prevention of tobacco usage.”

Boswell earned an Associate Degree in Communications in 1972 from Penn State University where he later received his Bachelors of Science in Community Development in 1975 and a Masters in Education in 1977.  In 1983, Boswell received a Management Development certificate from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School.  He and his wife Marilyn have been married for 29 years and have a daughter.

The American Legacy Foundation® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit www.americanlegacy.org.

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Contact: Julia Cartwright, 202-454-5767, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org