{{Short description|American media executive}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = | alt = | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = Jonathan C. Abbott | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | education = Columbia University (BA)<br>Stanford University (MBA) | occupation = Media executive | employer = | known_for = | spouse = | children = | parents = | family = }} '''Jonathan C. Abbott''' is an American media executive who was the president and CEO of WGBH Educational Foundation from 2007 until his resignation in 2022.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About Jon Abbott - WGBH |url=https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/people/jonathan-c-abbott |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Foundation |language=en}}</ref>
== Biography == Abbott grew up in New York City, where his father, Forrest Abbott, was the treasurer and controller of Barnard College.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Still Giving Back |url=https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2019/march/still-giving-back/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Teachers College - Columbia University |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1976-10-03 |title=Barnard Plans for Future Despite Columbia Merger Proposals |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/03/archives/barnard-plans-for-future-despite-columbia-merger-proposal.html |access-date=2022-03-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His uncle, Edward C. Melby Jr., was the dean of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edward C. Melby Jr. D.V.M. Obituary (2018) The Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/burlingtonfreepress/name/edward-melby-jr-d-v-m-obituary?id=16899657 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Former Veterinary College dean Edward C. Melby Jr. dies |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/06/former-veterinary-college-dean-edward-c-melby-jr-dies |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Cornell Chronicle |language=en}}</ref> He attended The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine and received his B.A. from Columbia University and M.B.A. from Stanford University.<ref name=":0" /> He began his career in broadcasting in Columbia University's student-run radio station WKCR-FM.<ref name=":0" />
He joined KQED in San Francisco after graduating from Stanford, running the station's marketing and development, before moving to PBS in Washington as senior vice president of development and corporate relations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Edelman |first=Larry |date=February 23, 2022 |title=GBH's Jonathan Abbott to step down as CEO at the end of the year - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/23/business/gbhs-jonathan-abbott-step-down-ceo-end-year/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Abbot joined WGBH-TV as vice president and General Manager in 1998 and was named president and CEO in 2007.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-23 |title=GBH President Jon Abbott plans to step down |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/02/23/gbh-president-jon-abbott-plans-to-step-down |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=News |language=en}}</ref> During his 15 years in the position, he oversaw the development of new channels, expanded the station's presence over digital platforms, and helped GBH raise $215 million in the largest capital campaign by a public media outlet, and increased its endowment more than eightfold to nearly $525 million.<ref name=":1" /> He also merged GBH's western Massachusetts TV affiliate WGBY with New England Public Radio to form the multiplatform New England Public Media.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Goldsmith |first=Jill |date=2022-02-23 |title=Jonathan Abbott, Longtime CEO Of Public Media's GBH In Boston, To Step Down At Year's End |url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/jonathan-abbott-public-media-gbh-1234959030/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2013, Abbott was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jonathan C. Abbott |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/jonathan-c-abbott |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> He is a / She is a recipient of the John Jay Award from Columbia College.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-07 |title=Five Alumni Honored at John Jay Awards Dinner |url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/issue/spring16/article/five-alumni-honored-john-jay-awards-dinner |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Columbia College Today |language=en}}</ref>
Abbot lives in Newton, Massachusetts with his family.<ref name=":1" />
In February 2022, Abbott announced plans to step down at the end of the year and was replaced in December by Susan Goldberg.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
== References == <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Jon}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century births Category:Mass media people from New York City Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Category:American chief executives in the mass media industry Category:American television executives