Lew Klein, Chair

Lew Klein has served the School of Communications and Theater as an adjunct professor for more than five decades. A seasoned professional who produced such landmark television programs as American Bandstand, Klein is respected by the Temple community and media professionals as a master teacher and wise mentor.

Jane Creamer Sullivan, Co-Chair

Jane Creamer Sullivan, ’70, is the President of The Sullivan Company, a construction management and consulting company based in Essington, Pa., which specializes in commercial construction and high rise renovation.  The company also works for some of the country’s largest financial institutions, providing services such as project monitoring, reviewing construction draws and problem solving. Sullivan has a bachelor of science degree in journalism. She previously was associate editor of the Temple Times and Director of Public Relations for Temple Center City. She currently serves on the President’s Advisory Board and is active with a number of local and school organizations in the Swarthmore, PA area.

Steve Capus, ’86, is President of NBC News. He is the No. 1 News Division executive and is responsible for all aspects of America’s highest-rated and most-watched network news division, as well as MSNBC and NBC News Channel. His numerous honors include four Emmy Awards, six Edward R. Murrow Awards, one Alfred I. duPont and six National Headliner Awards. He had previously served as senior vice president of NBC News and as executive producer of NBC Nightly News. He was the executive producer for much of NBC News’ coverage of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the war in Iraq and the “Decision 2002-2004” political coverage.

John P. Connolly, ’79, is Executive Director of Actors’ Equity, the labor union that represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. He had previously served for six years as National President of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Among his nearly 200 stage credits are The Iceman Cometh with Al Pacino, the New York Shakespeare production of The Golem starring Randy Quaid and all 23 men in the life of The Only Woman General starring Colleen Dewhurst. He has guest starred in The West Wing, Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has had leading roles in When the Bough Breaks, Innocent Victims and The Plague. Connolly also is a frequent guest lecturer and has received several honors from the labor and entertainment communities.

Tom Conti, ’83 is President of G2 Interactive, the digital marketing arm of Grey Global, which has 80 offices in 60 countries. He came to G2 after serving as the President of Star Group. He previously held senior management positions at MRM/McCann WorldGroup, Earle Palmer Brown and Ketchum Communications. He has created integrated communications programs for many major brands and companies including DuPont Company, Acura and Comcast.

Bill Daly, ’77, is Senior Vice President of Post Production at Warner Bros. Pictures. Daly began his tenure at Warner Bros. in 1990 as director of post production. He became vice president in 2003 and senior vice president in 2006. During his time with the company, he has overseen hundreds of motion pictures, including The Matrix trilogy, Ocean’s 11 and The Departed. He recently supervised Get Smart and Batman: The Dark Knight.

Johanna DeStefano is Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University. Her ties to the Temple University began in the early 1960s when she met and married Ralph DeStefano, a charismatic Philly cop with an interest in literature who was pursuing an English degree at Temple. She took summer courses at Temple in urban education, sociolinguistics and educational anthropology. The couple eventually made a permanent home in Columbus, Ohio. She was a faculty member and administrator at Ohio State University’s College of Education for 30 years, while he built a successful career in broadcast radio and electronic media. After he passed away suddenly in 1996, she established the Johanna S. and Ralph V. DeStefano Endowed Fund for Media Policy. It supports scholarly activities in the areas of First Amendment Rights and protections, urban journalism and civic engagement.

Jason George, ’96, is an actor on the series Off The Map, which premiered in January 2011. He was recently a featured character on Grey’s Anatomy. Previously, he was known for his role as J.T. Hunter, the onscreen boyfriend of rap-star Eve on her self-titled sitcom, Eve. George and Eve’s onscreen chemistry had already struck a chord with audiences in the MGM comedy Barbershop, also starring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer. George got his start on Aaron Spellings’ Sunset Beach, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Nomination. Since then, he’s worked steadily as a series regular on shows such as Off Centre, What about Brian and Platinum. Between series George has played roles in films such as The Climb, Clockstoppers, Broken Windows and 3 Can Play That Game with Vivica Fox. 

Bill Giles is Chairman of the Philadelphia Phillies. He graduated from Denison University in 1956 with a degree in economics. He spent three years as a navigator in the Air Force before becoming general manager of the Nashville Vols in 1959. From there, he moved to the expansion Houston Colt 45’s in 1962, where he held several positions, including vice president. He has been affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies since 1969, when he was named vice president, business operations. Giles has been the owner of the club since 1981. He served as team president until 1997, when he moved up to Chairman. The son of former National League president Warren Giles, he was appointed honorary National League president  in 2001. He is the author of Pouring Six Beers at a Time and Other Stories from a Lifetime in Baseball.

Joanne Harmelin is the Founder and CEO of Harmelin Media. She founded the company in 1982 after working in a senior capacity at leading advertising agencies in Philadelphia for more than ten years. She has been honored regionally and nationally for her work spanning more than 30 years. She is a member of the American Management Association and the Forum of Executive Women. She also is a board member of Penn Liberty Bank, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Philadelphia Zoo, Walnut Street Theatre, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League, Arden Theater Company, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia and the Lokoff Foundation, which sets standards for quality child care.

H. Chase Lenfest is Chairman and CEO of Lenfest Enterprises, LLC. Lenfest Enterprises is the holding company for his operating companies comprising the Lenfest Media Group: StarNet, L.P. and Media, DVX, Inc, which provide media and advertising services to the broadcast television and cable industries. He also owns and operates Lenfest Broadcasting, LLC (operating as WMCN-DTV Channel 44, an independent television station serving the Philadelphia region) and Lenfest Capital, LLC, an investment company with diversified holdings in real estate and private equities. Lenfest is the President of the H. Chase and Ana Maria Lenfest Foundation, Inc., which provides financial support for programs intended to make a positive impact on the lives of children in the Philadelphia area.

Brian S. Mattes, ’77, is a Principal and the Director of Government Relations at Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment management companies. He joined Vanguard in 1984 as director of public relations and developed Vanguard’s U.S. and international public relations functions before starting the company’s government relations function in 2004. Mattes is responsible for representing the interests of Vanguard and Vanguard shareholders in Washington, D.C. He has more than 30 years of public affairs experience. Also active in civic matters, he has served for more than 25 years as a member of the Board of Directors of Horizon House, one of America’s largest nonprofit providers of rehabilitation services to disabled individuals.

Stephen P. Miskin, CLA ’91, is the Press Secretary for Pa. House Majority Leader Sam Smith and the chief spokesman for the state House Republican Caucus. He began his long and successful career in politics as an undergraduate at Temple. As a student, he worked as a staffer or campaigner for Rep. Tom Foglietta, Sen. Arlen Specter, the late Sen. John Heinz, the Republican National Committee and state Auditor General Barbara Hafer. In the years since leaving Temple with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Miskin has worked for the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Ridge and Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker.

Arlene Notoro Morgan, ’67, is Associate Dean for Programs and Prizes at Columbia University. In that role, she oversees the administration of the school’s many prestigious prizes and professional development workshops. Morgan is the co-editor of The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity, a compilation text book, DVD, and web site of award-winning stories from her program. Morgan joined Columbia in August 2000 after a 31-year career at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she served as an assistant managing editor for readership, hiring and staff development. In 1995, Morgan was honored with the first Knight Ridder Excellence in Diversity Award for her leadership in fostering diversity issues throughout Knight Ridder newspapers. Morgan is chair of the Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation’s grant making committee.

Sharon Pinkenson, CHP ’69, EDU ’71, is the Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. She markets the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding region to the film, video, and television industry. Pinkenson coordinates every aspect of film production from cast and crew, support businesses and locations to community relations, and government services and incentives, while enhancing the region’s reputation internationally on both the big and small screen. She also publishes the Greater Philadelphia Film & Video Guide, the web site film.org, and advocates for the growth of Philadelphia’s indigenous film community through the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers program. A lifelong Philadelphian, Pinkenson has worked as a costume designer and wardrobe stylist in the film industry. Among her feature credits are Mannequin II: On the Move, Renegades, Christmas on Division Street, and Confessions of a Suburban Girl.

Shirley Powell, ’88, is executive vice president of communications at The Weather Channel Companies. In this capacity, she oversees all internal and external public relations and communications strategies for The Weather Channel, weather.com and its subsidiaries, Weather Services International and Enterprise Electronics Corporation. She previously served as senior vice president of corporate communications for Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and senior vice president of media relations for NBC Entertainment and as vice president of media relations for the Disney Channel and Toon Disney.

Bernie Prazenica, ’79, is President and General Manager of 6ABC, WPVI-TV. He has overall management responsibility for WPVI-TV/Channel 6, Philadelphia’s top-rated television station, and all of its ancillary businesses including three additional digital TV channels and 6abc.com, the station’s internet site. He was previously Director of National Sales at ABC. Earlier in his career, Prazenica was an account executive at WPTT-TV in Pittsburgh and at WRIC-TV in Richmond, Virginia. He is a cum laude graduate with a B.A. in Communications, Radio-TV-Film

Denise R. Rolfe, ’81 is an Emmy award-winning media marketing professional. Rolfe began her career in local cable and broadcast television station promotion, creative services, production and on-air, including sports reporting. She is an active member of Gerson Lehrman Group Councils, an online business consulting platform. She has led the affiliate relations and marketing teams for nationally-syndicated Warner Bros. television programs including The People’s Court with Ed Koch and the original Rosie O’Donnell Show. She also has held multiple executive positions in businesses with broadcast and satellite television operations, wireless broadband product development, strategic marketing for emerging technology and enterprise solutions, and high-level content licensing/acquisition and distribution. She’s a competitive amateur golfer and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred race horses.

Roy Shapiro is the retired Vice-President and General Manager of KYW Newsradio. He assumed the helm of KYW Newsradio in 1984, and worked for four decades for Viacom/CBS/Infinity Broadcasting, formerly Group W, Westinghouse Broadcasting. Shapiro has served on the boards of the Radio Advertising Bureau, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters. He has been a board member, named “Person of the Year” and inducted into the Halls of Fame for both the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and for the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

Tony Summerlin is Vice President and Director of Consulting for SRA Touchstone Consulting Group. He oversees all aspects of consulting services for Touchstone, a dedicated business unit within SRA focused on helping government leaders develop, launch, and manage their strategies. He develops business relationships and oversees staff development and assignments, proposal generation, client expectations, and the management and delivery of services. His experience includes leading efforts to establish models for implementing e-government initiatives in the federal government.