Chairman (Vacant)

Joaquin F. Blaya of Miami, Florida, is chairman of Blaya Media Inc. Since emigrating to the United States from Chile 36 years ago, Blaya has held a number of senior management positions with media companies. He served as chairman of Radio Unica, a Spanish-language radio network, and as CEO of the Telemundo Group, Inc., the nation's second-largest Spanish-language television network. Blaya also served as president of Univision Holdings, Inc., the nation's largest Spanish-language media company. Before coming to the United States in 1966, he worked in several marketing and media firms.

Blaya is active in national and local civic affairs. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami, as Chairman of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami, and on the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian Institution. In 2002, he received the American Institute for Public Service's Lifetime Achievement Jefferson Award, and the Robert C. Maynard Legend Award given by the National Association of Minority Media Executives.

Blanquita Walsh Cullum is chairman of the Talk Radio First Amendment Committee. She is former president of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts. Every year since 1995, she has been named by TALKERS magazine, the trade publication for the industry, as one of the Top 100 broadcasters in talk radio. Her nationally syndicated program, Newsbeat, is heard coast-to-coast on the Radio America Network. She is the president and founder of the Young American Broadcasters Program.

Cullum, the first Hispanic woman and the first radio talk show host to serve on the BBG, is also a member of the National Moment of Remembrance Commission. Cullum frequently appears on national television.

She began her broadcasting career over 25 years ago in San Antonio, Texas. She also has worked for the Coors Corporation and the National Bureau of the Census.

D. Jeffrey Hirschberg of Bethesda, Maryland, is a partner in Kalorama Partners, a consulting firm that deals with corporate governance and risk assessment. Hirschberg retired from Ernst & Young in 1999 as vice chairman/governmental affairs. Previously, he worked as a private attorney in Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 1972-1980, Hirschberg worked for the U.S. Justice Department as a special attorney and deputy chief of the criminal division’s special litigation section. Among other cases, he was responsible for investigations and prosecutions under the pre-Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He also prosecuted civil and criminal matters as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee.

Hirschberg has broad political and international experience. He is a director of the U.S.-Russia Business Council, and a former director of the Center for Democracy, a bi-partisan, non-governmental organization. Hirschberg has been active in domestic politics as a managing trustee of the Democratic National Committee and a member of the board of advisors of the Democratic Leadership Council.

A native of Oshkosh, Wis., Hirschberg is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Hirschberg holds a law degree from Marquette University Law School.

Edward E. Kaufman is president of Public Strategies, a political and management consulting firm based in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1995, he was appointed a charter member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Since 1991, he has been a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University's School of Law, Fuqua School of Business, and Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He is a Trustee of Christiana Care Corporation and secretary to the Board of Directors of Children and Families First. Kaufman was formerly Chief of Staff to U. S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE). Previously, he spent seven years in various technical, financial, and marketing positions with the DuPont Company.

Steven J. Simmons is Chairman and CEO of Patriot Media and Communications, LLC, a new company formed to purchase cable companies in the United States. It will offer subscribers digital and analog cable programming as well as high-speed Internet access through cable modems. From 1982-1994, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Simmons Communications, Inc. (SCI). Simmons founded SCI, which owned and managed cable companies, in 1981. At its height, SCI served approximately 350,000 cable subscribers in 20 states. It had over 50 offices nationwide and more than 600 employees. Prior to starting SCI, Simmons served almost four years as an assistant and then as associate director on the White House's domestic policy staff.

A graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Law School, Simmons began his career at the University of California at Irvine where he taught communications and constitutional law, among other subjects. His writing includes a book entitled "The Fairness Doctrine and the Media." Simmons has also authored children's books, including "Alice and Greta," which became a best-selling children's picture book.

Simmons continues to be active in cable and other organizations. He served on the board of the National Cable Television Association for three years, and he co-founded and chairs the Entrepreneurs Club, a group of 24 leaders of cable television companies. He was also active in the Young Presidents' Organization, serving on its board, and is a member of the Chief Executives' Organization.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the 66th Secretary of State on January 26, 2005.

Prior to becoming Secretary of State, Dr. Rice served as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor.   She also was in government service from 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, when she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.