Kevin Klose
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Kevin Klose | |
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| Born | September 1, 1940 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 17, 2026 (aged 85) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
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Kevin Klose (September 1, 1940 – April 15, 2026) was a Canadian-American journalist, author, broadcast executive and academic administrator who served as president of National Public Radio for almost a decade, overseeing a major growth era for the service.
Life and career
[edit]Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,[1] Klose grew up in Red Hook, New York. His parents, Woody and Virginia Taylor Klose, were radio producers and writers during the 1930s and 1940s.
Klose was a graduate of Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1962. He authored five books, including Russia and the Russians: Inside the Closed Society.
For 25 years Klose was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. From 1977 to 1981 he served as Moscow Bureau Chief.
He served successively as director of U.S. international broadcasting, overseeing the U.S. Government's global radio and television news services (1997–98) and president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), broadcasting to Central Europe and the former Soviet Union (1994–97). He joined RFE/RL in 1992 as director of Radio Liberty, broadcasting to the former Soviet Union in its national languages. Among his achievements, he relocated RFE/RL from Munich to Prague and helped devise and implement a strategy to refocus the mission of all U.S.-funded international broadcasting and update operations.
From 1998 to September 2008 Klose was president of National Public Radio (NPR), the United States' largest nonprofit radio outlet for news and cultural programming. He served in this position beginning in December 1998, and also served as the organization's chief executive officer from 1998 to 1999.[2][3] He was also a member of NPR's corporate board of directors, and a Trustee of the NPR Foundation.[4] In 2008 he was named president emeritus.
Klose also served on the advisory board of the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy and the nonprofit America Abroad Media.[5]
He served as dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, from April 2009[6] to July 2012 and was a tenured professor.
Klose served as president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 2012 to 2014.[7][failed verification] He died in Washington, D.C., from complications of Alzheimer's disease on April 15, 2026, at the age of 85.[8][9]
Published works
[edit]- Russia and the Russians. W. W. Norton & Company. 1984. ISBN 978-0393303124. (1986 paperback).
- Typhoon Shipments. W. W. Norton & Company. 1980. ISBN 978-0393335880.
References
[edit]- ^ Who's Who in America – 2009 (63 ed.). 2008.
- ^ "NPR Announces New President and CEO". NPR. November 11, 1998. Archived from the original on March 16, 2009.
- ^ Langfitt, Frank (March 6, 2008). "CEO Ken Stern Leaving NPR". NPR.org.
- ^ "Klose Named New Dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism :: University Communications Newsdesk, University of Maryland". Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ "Kevin Klose | AMERICA ABROAD MEDIA". Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ^ Farvardin, Nariman (February 18, 2009). "Klose Named New Dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism". University of Maryland. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009.
- ^ "Kevin Klose To Be RFE/RL's Acting President And CEO". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016.
- ^ Risen, Clay (April 17, 2026). "Kevin Klose, Who Made NPR a Reporting Powerhouse, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
- ^ Folkenflik, David (April 15, 2026). "Visionary NPR leader Kevin Klose, who led network to new heights, has died". NPR. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
External links
[edit]- Interview from Eurozine Archived May 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Kevin Klose at IMDb
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- 1940 births
- 2026 deaths
- American nonprofit chief executives
- NPR executives
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people
- 20th-century American journalists
- 20th-century Canadian journalists
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- American newspaper reporters and correspondents
- American foreign correspondents
- The Washington Post journalists
- American journalism academics
- University of Maryland, College Park faculty
- Harvard University alumni
- Journalists from Washington, D.C.
- Journalists from Toronto
- Writers from Washington, D.C.
- People from Red Hook, New York
- Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Washington, D.C.
