I N T H I S I S S U E

• Investing in Nova

• Trusting Masterpiece

• Simone Stedry Winston Is New RLS Chair

• An Eventful Season

• Will Thorndike Welcomes New Overseers

F O R F R I E N D S A N D S U P P O R T E R S O F W G B H

Nova Divesinto Science

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the PresidentView from

P romoting an understanding of science and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers is part of WGBH’s DNA. “Back in 1974, the common

wisdom was that science wasn’t suitable for television,” says Nova senior executive producer Paula Apsell. “WGBH and PBS thought otherwise, and launched an ambitious experiment.” Forty years later, Nova—in all its glorious facets: on air, online, radio, mobile (see sidebar, page 3)—has irrefutably proved that Americans have not only an interest in, but an insatiable appetite for science. Nova tackles some of the most important stories in science and technology today—from marine biologists’ hunt for clues to one of the greatest environmental catastrophes facing our planet: ocean acidification…to an investigation into the most confounding engineering mysteries of the ancient world. Look for the premieres of Lethal Seas and Building Wonders in winter/spring 2015. In this issue, we’ll introduce you to some of WGBH’s generous and visionary friends who are making our work possible. You’ll meet new WGBH supporters DuBose and Nancy Montgomery (page 3), who are big fans of Nova and its many educational digital components. And the late Sudi Cummings, whose passion for WGBH and Masterpiece lives on through a generous bequest in support of the Masterpiece Trust (page 7). And speaking of the Masterpiece Trust, I’m thrilled to share the news that the Trust, which was created to ensure Masterpiece’s future, has hit a major milestone: nearly $12 million raised since its launch four years ago. You’ll also hear from our new Ralph Lowell Society Chair and longtime supporter Simone Stedry Winston (page 4) and catch up with Zena Lum, a former RLS director whose commitment to WGBH continues through her RLS membership (pages 4 and 5). We’re grateful to them, and to all of you for matching your passion with your philanthropy—for strengthening WGBH’s ability to innovate public media, in the public interest, every day.

J O N A T H A N C . A B B O T T P R E S I D E N T A N D C E O

On the cover: Nova’s Lethal Seas will premiere in spring 2015

Silicon Valley Couple Invest in NovaDubose and nancy montgomery met and earned degrees in Boston—

he from MIT, where he studied electrical engineering, computer science, and management before going on to Harvard Business School; she from Wellesley College, where she majored in biology. The pair loved the educational climate, but they hated the winters. In 1974, they packed up their car and drove to San Francisco just as Silicon Valley was about to take off. Their timing couldn’t have been better. At 27, DuBose co-founded one of the earliest and still most successful venture capital firms in the country. Menlo Ventures has helped launch biomedical and high-tech companies and products that have changed the world, from Gilead Sciences to Siri. Nancy was busy, too, earning an MBA from Stanford and serving as chief financial officer of Applied Biosystems, which manufactured equipment biotech companies use to synthesize and sequence DNA and proteins. After their two daughters were born, she switched to consulting and, finally, full-time parenting. Fast forward to 2014: the children are grown and this dynamic couple is looking ahead. “We are now at the stage where we are thinking about how to give back on a more global scale,” says Nancy. “Science and education have always been important to us. It’s the generations that will come after us that have to lead, and they need to have a good understanding of our world and how it works.” Enter Nova, WGBH’s stellar science series and its many educational digital components. “We’ve watched and admired Nova for years,” says DuBose, who with Nancy recently made a generous gift to Nova through their family foundation. “We think it is the gold standard for science education in the US. Nova does a great job tackling the really difficult, complex issues in science—from string theory to evolution—and making them understandable and entertaining.” Nova’s leadership in fostering science literacy is important to the Montgomerys. So, too, is the woman at the series’ helm: Paula Apsell. “The people who run organizations are the key to their success,” Nancy says. “Paula is driven, dynamic, and thoughtful. We had the pleasure of spending some time with her, and we are excited about her vision for Nova—past, present, and future. We hope our gift helps Paula create even more great programs and projects!”

What’s New with Nova

Nova is the only series on US television that

tells important science stories every week...

and so much more. Nova senior executive

producer paula apsell presides

over a multi-plat-

form powerhouse

(pbs.org/nova)

dedicated to

fostering science

literacy. “We

definitely are not your grandfather’s Nova,”

says Paula.

On TV… and online anytimeStream nearly any Nova program at your

convenience at pbs.org/nova.

Nova NextExplore this online collection of timely

articles by the nation’s top scientists and

science journalists, along with companion

video and animation.

Nova + PBS LearningMediaNova is the #1 contributor of STEM content

to PBS LearningMedia (pbslearningmedia.

org), WGBH and PBS’s pioneering library

of free digital resources for K-12 educators

nationwide. 1.5 million users in 48 states

have signed on.

Nova LabsNova Labs opens the door for high school

students to real-world science investigations,

providing online access to scientific data

and research opportunities.

Gross ScienceThis new Web series shares revolting stories

from the natural world to pique the curiosity

and scientific interest of younger viewers.

The Elements iPad appNova’s first iPad app features an interactive

periodic table and game in which players

build atoms and molecules to make every-

day things. “It makes science feel like magic

in your hands.” — Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing

Plus, Nova ScienceNow, The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers, and more. Visit pbs.org/nova for all things Nova.

P A G E 3S H A R I N G T H E V I S I O N N E W S L E T T E R • F A L L 2 0 1 4 / W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

News from the Ralph Lowell Society

New Chair, New Year

A s I take on my new duties as Chair of

the Ralph Lowell Society, I am excited to

follow in the footsteps of some extraordinary

predecessors, most

recently Melinda

Rabb, who completed

her term this summer

after three years of

helping grow both

our RLS membership

and our annual

support of WGBH.

Those are accomplishments I intend to

build on. Our recent RLS survey that many

of you participated in provided valuable

insights. You care deeply about WGBH’s

mission to create public media that expands

opportunities for all. You are excited about

recent RLS events and trends, particularly

our efforts to serve the multiple generations

who make up the RLS. And you want to

share your enthusiasm for WGBH and the

RLS with your friends.

And that’s wonderful, because RLS members

are our most effective ambassadors. I invite

you to “bring a friend” to an RLS event in

2015. It’s the perfect way to get an up-close

look at some of your favorite productions

and to meet the talented people behind them.

And speaking of events, we had some

great ones this fall. New York Times columnist

and best-selling author Nicholas Kristof

stopped by to discuss his latest book and

documentary, A Path Appears, on how smart

philanthropy can make a real difference in

people’s lives. (Our RLS support of WGBH

certainly does that!) We also met with chef

extraordinaire Lidia Bastianich and enjoyed

a preview of Masterpiece’s Death Comes to

Pemberley, followed by a fascinating lecture

about England’s great manor houses.

And there’s much more to come in 2015,

including a very special Masterpiece Tour to

England this summer (see page 5), so stay

tuned.

Wishing you a happy New Year, and

many thanks for making WGBH a priority

in your life!

simone stedry winstonchair , ralph lowell society

rls benefactor and event co-host jane arneth tyler chats with rls chairman’s circle member and event host graham gund

An American ExperienceRLS Chairman’s Circle members Graham and Ann Gund (Trustee) graciously hosted a

gathering at their Nantucket home this past summer in celebration of the upcoming 2015

PBS premiere of American Experience’s Last Days in Vietnam. Now in limited theatrical

release, the film already is generating Oscar buzz.

rls innovator’s circle members and event co-hosts marjie kargman (trustee) and her husband bob kargman (right) with american experience executive producer mark samels

rls sponsors peg condon (left) and elizabeth rogers (overseer) catch up

America’s Test Kitchen Up CloseRLS members enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of America’s Test Kitchen in Brookline this

summer that included mingling with Test Kitchen chefs and sampling their delicious fare.

rls members get an up-close and delectable look at america’s test kitchen in brookline

rls sponsors denis reno and karen jorgenson check out what’s cooking

rls members and wgbh friends explore america’s test kitchen’s extensive library

rls members and wgbh friends learn more about american experience’s new film, last days in vietnam, in the gunds’ garden on nantucket

from left: event hosts graham and ann gund with mark bailey, last days in vietnam filmmaker rory kennedy, and american experience executive producer mark samels

P A G E 4

RLS Chair • Simone Stedry Winston

Director • Vanya Tulenko

Senior Events Manager • Jeanmarie Roberts

Senior Development Associate • Christopher Reilly

Development Assistant • Glenna Moran Pop-Stefanov

ralph lowell society membership levelsfriend • $ 1 ,500fellow • $2 ,500sponsor • $5 ,000benefactor • $ 10 ,000president’s c ircle • $25 ,000chairman’s c ircle • $50,000innovator’s c ircle • $ 100,000

For a complete list of the benefits and privileges at each membership level, please call the Ralph Lowell Society Hotline at 617-300-3900, visit wgbh.org/ralphlowell, or email ralph_lowell_society@wgbh.org. We welcome your questions and value your support.

Masterpiece Tour June 24 to June 30, 2015

Join us for a Masterpiece Tour of London,

Oxford, Glyndebourne, and Wimbledon.

We’ll visit Osterley House, Syon Park, Eltham

Palace, and London’s The Inns of Court—all

settings for Masterpiece productions over the

years. Highlights include a private tour of

Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum

at Oxford University; an elaborate, seated

picnic and performance at the Glyndebourne

Festival Opera; a private lunch and tour of

Hampton Court; a stop at Sherlock Holmes’

Publick House; an optional day at Centre

Court, Wimbledon…and much more. Supporting What She KnowsZ ena lum knows WGBH. She served as director of the Ralph Lowell Society

for seven years and when she left in 2009, she decided to stay connected through an RLS membership at the Friend level. “I wanted to honor the hard work and accomplishments of the great staff and volunteers I worked with during my time at ’GBH,” Lum says. But there’s another reason she joined the RLS. Having enjoyed an insider’s view, Lum appreciates the vital public service WGBH provides. “Our media landscape is becoming more and more convoluted,” she says. “WGBH stands out as an independent voice that’s ensuring everyone has access to high-quality news and entertainment.” Today, Lum helps nonprofits find new leaders as search director for Lois L. Lindauer Searches. She lives in the South End with her husband Ben Smith— a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyst for the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs—and their nine-year-old son, Dylan.

What are your family’s WGBH favorites? My favorite is Sherlock on Masterpiece—it’s such a clever adaptation. I always learn something new on Frontline and Nova. My husband is a huge Nova fan and my son is becoming one.

Do you listen to 89.7 WGBH or 99.5 WCRB? I listen to Morning Edition on 89.7 as I get ready for work. My son is a cellist and as we immerse ourselves in the world of classical music, we’re listening to WCRB more and more.

What do you enjoy most about your RLS membership? The events are great. I took Dylan to see the advance screening of The Hundred-Foot Journey and he loved it so much we went out and bought the book.

Why are you confident about WGBH’s future? Jon Abbott [WGBH President and CEO] and his team do not take WGBH’s future success for granted. They are always thinking about creative, cutting-edge ways to bring thoughtful and deeply relevant content home to viewers and listeners.

For more information, please contact Vanya Tulenko (vanya_tulenko@wgbh.org), or call 617-300-3900.

Zena Lum (center) with good friends Lisa Paap (left) and Amy Slade

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New Class of OverseersNew Board of Overseers Chair will thorndike , who previously served as

Vice Chair, welcomed our latest class of Overseers to WGBH this past spring. Will’s own ties to WGBH run deep. The great-nephew of WGBH founder Ralph Lowell, Will serves on multiple WGBH committees, including Technology and Finance. He is the founder and Managing Director of Housatonic Partners and the author of The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success. “Our Board of Overseers is a dynamic group of civic-minded leaders,” Will says, “as our newest members so amply demonstrate.”

2014 Becton Fellow Greg Shea

greg shea once dreamed of being in a

rock band.

Today, he’s made it on stage, but the

instrument in his hands isn’t the guitar he’s

played since middle school—it’s a camera.

And Shea, executive producer of WGBH’s

new digital and broadcast series Front Row

Boston, uses it to capture bands like the

Dropkick Murphys performing at iconic

Boston clubs, from Brighton Music Hall to

the House of Blues.

Relying on small, handheld cameras—

with as many as six

videographers led

by Shea shooting

from on stage and

in the crowd—

Front Row Boston

blends into the

venues’ intimate

atmospheres to

convey the bands’ energy and artistry.

“My hope is that people will see the

show as Boston’s version of Austin City

Limits,” Shea says.

WGBH President Jon Abbott recently

named Shea the 2014 WGBH Becton

Fellow. The fellowship, which is supported

by the Becton Fund and named in honor

of WGBH’s former president and current

Vice Chair Henry Becton, Jr., recognizes

promising WGBH producers and content

creators whose work is emblematic of

WGBH’s mission.

Shea also specializes in short-form

video—for the Web and TV—for WGBH’s

Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece, and

American Experience, and has produced

videos for 99.5 WCRB and the WGBH

Music YouTube Channel.

“Henry’s leadership and creative energy

have been—and continue to be—a huge

part of WGBH’s success,” Shea says. “To

receive a fellowship in his name is a real

honor and source of inspiration.”

Check out Front Row Boston online at frontrowboston.wgbh.org.

kirstan barnett of Boston is a Partner

at Bracebridge Capital, a private investment

fund, and the Founder and Chairman of the

Board of SheGives, a newly created collective

philanthropic foundation that financially

supports a portfolio of Greater Boston

charities.

marcia blenko of Wellesley is an

Advisory Partner at Bain & Company,

where she co-founded and led its Global

Organization Practice for a number of

years. She has written numerous articles

on organization, decision effectiveness,

and leadership that have appeared in The

Harvard Business Review, The Financial

Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She also

co-authored Decide and Deliver: Five Steps

to Breakthrough Performance in Your

Organization. She earned an MBA from

Stanford University and a BS from Brown

University.

karen levy of Wellesley Hills is one of

the Vice Chairs of the Handel and Haydn

Society Board of Governors. She also serves

on the boards of Facing History and

Ourselves, From the Top, and The Jewish

Women’s Archive. She earned a BA from

Wellesley College and a MAT in teaching

from Harvard University.

jeremy seidman of Wellesley is a

Director at Credit Suisse, a global financial

services company. He currently serves

on Credit Suisse’s Advisory Counsel of

Excellence, a 14-person leadership team

in Private Banking Americas.

jason talbot of Cambridge is a

co-founder of Artists for Humanity,

a nonprofit youth arts and enterprise

organization based in South Boston, and

the previous Co-Chair of the WGBH

Community Advisory Board. Jason was

featured in a WGBH impact campaign,

where he talked about how public television

helped him learn about the world beyond

his neighborhood. The Boston Business

Journal named Talbot one of its 2014

40-Under-40 honorees.

P A G E 6

New Rey Producer: Heather Goldstone

When heather goldstone was pursuing

her PhD in ocean science, she realized a life

in the lab was not for her.

“I enjoy thinking, talking, and writing

about science—the big ideas, the passionate

people—a lot more than actually doing it,”

Goldstone says.

Soon after receiving her doctorate from

the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institution Joint Program in Oceanography,

Goldstone made the short walk—just two

buildings away from the lab where she was

working—to WCAI, the Cape and Islands

NPR Station.

A Heartfelt Bequest to The Masterpiece Trust The call came out of the blue in 2011, soon after WGBH announced the launch

of the Masterpiece Trust to ensure the iconic drama series’ future on television and online. “sudi [susan] cummings was one of the first people to contact us,” recalls WGBH’s Ericka Webb, director of Gift Planning. “She told me she wanted to leave a bequest to the Masterpiece Trust in her will. She was passionate about the transformative power of great drama. And she drew on that power over the next few years as her health declined.” Cummings quickly acted on her intention, adding a generous, six-figure bequest to her will in September of 2011, along with a note to Ericka. “For 40 years, whatever my geographical location or life circumstances, WGBH and Masterpiece have been a constant for me—a kind of intellectual and cultural endorphin rush,” Cummings wrote. “WGBH Boston was my original exposure to high-quality television, and its ‘best-of-breed’ reputation and special place in my heart continue today from a thousand miles away.” A native of Providence, RI, who went on to earn a BA from Smith College in 1967 and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Cummings enjoyed a successful career in finance before progressively serious health issues forced her to retire to warmer climes: Deerfield, Florida. Cummings passed away in August 2014. During her final years, Cummings streamed Masterpiece programs on her laptop. “How marvelous it is,” she wrote, “that the Masterpiece Trust was created to ensure that a new generation can enter the worlds of Downton Abbey or Inspector Lewis not just via TV, but online and on the go.” There have been nearly 100 bequests/bequest intentions made to the Masterpiece Trust since Cummings first stepped forward in 2011. And they are making a difference. “We are tremendously grateful to Sudi,” says Ericka, “and the other generous individuals who have made the Trust part of their legacies.”

For more information about how you can include the Masterpiece Trust in your estate plan, contact Ericka Webb, Director of Gift Planning and Endowment, at WGBH: ericka_webb@wgbh.org or 800.220.7122.

“I walked in, introduced myself, and

offered whatever services I could provide,”

she says. “The rest is history.”

As science editor for WCAI (a service

of WGBH) and WGBH News, Goldstone

explores the intersection of science and

culture on WCAI’s weekly Living Lab on

The Point. She also appears regularly on

89.7 WGBH and WGBH TV’s Greater

Boston, reporting on environmental issues

and trends in science.

This November Goldstone was named

the 2014-15 Margret and Hans Rey/Curious

George Producer. The producership was

established in 2001 by a bequest to support

work that reflects Margret Rey’s lifelong

interests in science, public affairs, arts, health,

and children’s programming.

During her producership year, Goldstone

will focus on expanding Living Lab’s audience

across platforms. “I see science as being

connected to everything in our lives—from

medicine and the environment, to art and

religion,” Goldstone says. “It’s extremely

rewarding to have my broad interests

celebrated.”

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Sharing the Vision is a publication of WGBH

EditorialSusan ReedMatthew Roy

DesignDanielle Pierce

For general information, please contact

Winifred LenihanVice President for Development

WGBH One Guest StreetBoston, MA 02135

617-300-3804 win_lenihan@wgbh.org

Publication CoordinationElizabeth Willard Thames

Director, Constituent CommunicationsCynthia Broner

Associate DirectorSusan Reed

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CUMMINGS; COURTESY HEATHER GOLDSTONE. •

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PERMIT NO. 193

“ Nova has given me the greatest love for science. Without Nova,

which I have watched since kindergarten (I am

now in 8th grade), I wouldn’t be who I am today.

I watch Nova and I learn things...to the point

where I quiz out of entire science units. I am

planning on attending a math and science

high school, and becoming a theoretical

physicist, and I have Nova to thank for it.”

- A young NOVA fAN

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR!Downton Abbey Season 5 on Masterpiecepremieres Sunday, January 4, at 9pm on WGBH 2