Lawrence Kugelmass Grossman (June 21, 1931 – March 23, 2018) was a cable television industry executive who served as president of

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 ...

from 1976 to 1984 and headed

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Early life and Career

Grossman was born Lawrence Kugelmass on June 21, 1931, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His father, Nathaniel H. Kugelmass, was a lawyer; his mother, the former Rose Goldstein, was a high school administrator. His father died when Lawrence was 3, and his mother later married Nathan Grossman, also a lawyer, who adopted him. He attended

Midwood High School Midwood High School is a high school located at 2839 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, administered by the New York City Department of Education. It has an enrollment of 3,938 students. Its H-shaped building, with six Ionic order, Ionic co ...

and graduated from Columbia College in 1952, where he studied English and political science. He spent a year at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and left to join ''Look'' magazine in the promotions department.

Career

He was hired by the advertising department at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

in 1956, then moved to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in 1962, becoming the network’s vice president of advertising. After leaving NBC, he ran his own advertising, marketing and communications firm until he was hired by

as its president in 1976.

President of PBS

As president of

, he was credited for transforming it into the first network to deliver its programming by satellite, introducing ''

Live from Lincoln Center ''Live from Lincoln Center'' is a seventeen-time Emmy Award-winning series that has broadcast notable performances from the Lincoln Center in New York City on PBS since 1976. The program airs between six and nine times per season. Episodes of ''L ...

,'' launching the ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'' documentary series'','' and the 13-part documentary miniseries '' Vietnam: A Television History,'' and expanding ''

The MacNeil/Lehrer Report ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the progr ...

'' (now known as ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...

)'' to one hour. He also received credit for standing up to pressure from members of the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

and

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

to air ''

Death of a Princess ''Death of a Princess'' is a British 1980 drama-documentary produced by ATV in cooperation with WGBH in the United States. The drama is based on the true story of Princess Mishaal, a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover who had been pu ...

'' on public television. The film was controversial for its depiction of

Saudi Arabian Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...

customs and provoked strong diplomatic responses from the Saudi government to the UK and the US.

President of NBC News

In 1984, he was appointed president of

by network chairman

Grant Tinker Grant Almerin Tinker (January 11, 1926 – November 28, 2016) was an American television executive who served as chairman and CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986. Additionally, he was a co-founder of MTM Enterprises and a television producer. Life ...

. He was responsible for bringing in

Tim Russert Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Wa ...

as anchor, and helped engineer the turnaround of the channel that saw ratings slip in comparison to its competitors. Under his tenure, ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' became the No.1 morning show and ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'' saw increase in the ratings. However, after

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

brought the network in 1986, he clashed with

Bob Wright Robert Charles Wright (born April 23, 1943) is an American lawyer, businessman, right-wing lobbyist, and author. He is a former NBC executive, having served as president and CEO from 1986 to 2001, and chairman and CEO from 2001 until he retire ...

and

Jack Welch John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. When Welch retired from GE, he receive ...

over budget cuts and was forced out in 1988, replaced by

Michael Gartner Michael Gartner (born October 25, 1938, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American journalist, attorney and businessman. He was president of the Iowa Board of Regents. Biography A graduate of Carleton College and the New York University School of Law, ...

. Book: The Electronic Republic: Reshaping American Democracy in the Information Age (1995). https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Republic-Reshaping-Democracy-Information/dp/0140249214

Personal life

After leaving NBC News, he taught at the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

and teamed up with former FCC Chairman

Newton Minow Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. He is famous for his speech referring to television as a "vast wasteland". While still maintaining a law practice, Min ...

to launch

Digital Promise Digital Promise, also known as the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies, is a non-profit organization originated by the U.S. Congress as part of the 2008 re-authorization of the Higher Education Opportuni ...

, an initiative authorized by

in 2008 to promote “funding of research in using digital information technologies for teaching and learning.” Grossman died at his home in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, on March 23, 2018 at 86. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Lawrence K. 1931 births 2018 deaths American television executives NBCUniversal people NBC executives Presidents of NBC News PBS people Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Law School alumni CBS people