Ken Stern is President of Palisades Media Ventures and the author of With Charity for All and Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of National Public Radio. Early life and education A native of Washington, D.C., Stern grew up in South Korea and Germany where his father served in the United States Department of State. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Haverford College with a B.A. in political science. He also holds a J.D. from Yale Law School. Career Prior to entering broadcasting, Stern was an attorney specializing in litigation with Wilmer Cutler and Pickering (now Wilmer Hale) in Washington. He also served as chief counsel for the 53rd Presidential Inaugural Committee and deputy general counsel for the Clinton/Gore 1996 Campaign. From 1997 to 1999, Stern served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau in Washington, D.C., the umbrella organization overseeing American worldwide broadcasting operations including Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Voice of America and Radio and TV Marti. He used to be legal and management consultant to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, based in Munich and Prague. National Public Radio Stern served as NPR's Executive Vice President beginning in November 1999, and was named NPR CEO in September, 2007. During his -year tenure, NPR strengthened its business management and operations. NPR's financial stability further improved after the organization received the largest gift in NPR history, $200 million from McDonald's heiress and philanthropist, Joan Kroc. Stern's time as Executive Vice President also included the 2004 dismissal of Morning Edition founding host Bob Edwards in the months prior to Edward's 25th anniversary as host of the show. Additionally, Stern oversaw the April 2006 launch of NPR Berlin, an FM channel in Germany that marked the organization's move into international broadcasting. In 2007, the Wall Street Journal summarized NPR's competitive position soon after Stern became CEO: "In an era when commercial radio seems to be floundering, National Public Radio is hitting its stride. Some 25.5 million people tune into its programming each week, up from 13 million a decade ago. It has more than 800 member stations, up from 635 a decade ago. In some places, like Seattle, its Morning Edition is consistently the most popular morning drive show on any radio station. It is expanding foreign coverage, winning more underwriting