Susan Davenport Austin Elected Chairman of BMI Board
Susan Davenport Austin, most recently Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Broadcast Music, Inc. at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, held October 18 in Nashville, TN. Ms. Austin succeeds Jack Sander, former Vice Chairman of Belo Corporation in Dallas, Texas, who was elected Presiding Director at the meeting. Ms. Austin, named by Radio Ink Magazine as one of the Most Influential Women in Radio and one of the Most Influential African Americans in Radio, joined the BMI board in 2007. She is both the first woman and the first African-American elected to serve as Chairman of the BMI Board.
A distinguished and highly respected media executive, Ms. Austin currently serves as a director and as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation and President of the Sheridan Gospel Network. Ms. Austin’s family founded Sheridan in 1972. Sheridan is the majority owner and manager of American Urban Radio Networks, the number one ranked radio network reaching African Americans in the U.S. Prior to joining SBC, she spent 10 years in investment banking, specializing in telecommunications and media finance. She served as a vice president in the Communications, Media and Entertainment group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. She also worked for Bear, Stearns & Co. and Salomon Brothers Inc. Ms. Austin holds a B.A. in mathematics from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
In addition to SBC and BMI, Ms. Austin currently serves on the boards of Hubbard Radio and the Prudential Variable Annuities Funds, and as President of the Board of the MacDowell Colony. She has previously served on other boards, including the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, The Stanford Business School Alumni Association (President) and The Lower Eastside Girls Club (Chair).
Reelected as members of the Board along with Austin were Craig A. Dubow, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., McLean, VA; Paul Karpowicz, President, Meredith Broadcasting Group, Rocky Hill, CT; Virginia Hubbard Morris, Chair, Hubbard Radio and Vice President, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., St. Paul, MN; and G. Neil Smith, President, GNS Media, LLC, Liberty, SC. All will serve terms that will expire in 2015.
Continuing in their terms on the Board of Directors along with Sander are: Del R. Bryant, President & CEO, BMI, New York, NY; Amador Bustos, President, Bustos Media Holdings, LLC, Portland, OR; N. John Douglas, Chairman and CEO, AIM Broadcasting, LLC, Palo Alto, CA; Kenneth J. Elkins, (Retired) President & CEO, Pulitzer Broadcasting and Senior Vice President, Broadcasting, Pulitzer Publishing Co., St. Louis, MO; Michael J. Fiorile, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dispatch Broadcast Group, Columbus, OH; Catherine L. Hughes, Founder and Chairperson, Radio One, Inc. , Lanham, MD; Philip A. Jones, Mission Hills, KS; Jerome L. Kersting, Chicago, IL; Mark P. Mays, Chairman Clear Channel Communications, San Antonio, TX; Mark Pedowitz, President, The CW Network, Burbank CA; and Cecil Walker, (Retired) Chairman and CEO, Gannett Broadcasting, Atlanta, GA.
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