United States Agency for Global Media

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was appointed to the board by President George W. Bush in 2002 and served until 2007. He came to the Board as a former Director of the Voice of America with more than 35 years of journalistic experience. He began his career as a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 1965. In 1968, he joined the Washington bureau of Reader’s Digest, serving as a correspondent in Vietnam, and eventually in Paris, where he covered events in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Tomlinson Director of VOA, where he served until 1984. After his tenure at VOA, Tomlinson returned to Reader’s Digest to serve as managing editor. He was subsequently named executive editor of the magazine in 1985 and editor-in-chief in 1989. He retired from Reader’s Digest in 1996.