Lee Conrad Frischknecht (January 4, 1928 – December 29, 2004) was a

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and, from 1973 to 1977, was the second president of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

Biography

Frischknecht was born in Brigham City,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

to Carl and Geniel Frischknecht (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Lund), and after graduation from Logan High School, spent two years (1946-1948) in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He graduated from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

(USU) in 1951 with a degree in speech and radio. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Radio-TV from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1957.

Career

After graduation, Frischknecht initially worked in Idaho and after earning a graduate degree in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to work at

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

affiliate

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

. As president he saw a shift from predominantly news coverage to more human interest reporting. Frischknecht returned to USU to work for a time and then moved to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

to work at

under its first president,

Don Quayle Donald R. Quayle (July 27, 1930 – April 16, 2015) was an American broadcast journalist who was the first president of National Public Radio (NPR), from 1970 to 1973. Early life and education Born in Logan, Utah, Quayle attended Utah State Uni ...

. He joined the fledgling public radio enterprise as director of network affairs and later as vice president."Lee Conrad Frischknecht"
''

The Herald Journal ''The Herald Journal'' is a newspaper in Logan, Utah, United States, and serves the Cache Valley area of Northern Utah and Southeastern Idaho which includes Cache County, Utah and Franklin County, Idaho. It is published three times each week ...

'', 1 January 2005. Retrieved on 13 May 2021. Frischknecht became president of NPR in 1973, and served in that capacity until 1977. He returned to television at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

KAET KAET (channel 8), known as Arizona PBS, is a PBS member television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, owned by Arizona State University and operated by ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. KAET's studios are ...

in 1980 and later helped found

KBAQ KBAQ (89.5 FM, "K Bach") is a Phoenix metro area FM radio station that plays classical music twenty-four hours per day. It is co-owned by the Maricopa County Community College District and Arizona State University. A member of National Publ ...

. He retired in 1993.

Personal

Frischknecht was married for 54 years (until his death) to the former Sara Jean McCulloch and had four daughters. He was a lifelong member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frischknecht, Lee 1928 births 2004 deaths People from Brigham City, Utah NPR personalities Utah State University alumni Utah State University faculty Michigan State University alumni Arizona State University faculty American expatriates in Japan American Latter Day Saints