Frank Stanton, the former president of CBS who died on December 24, 2006, at the age of 98, has been eulogized as one of the greatest leaders in the history of television. He also was a friend, advisor, and benefactor to HSPH.
"Dr. Stanton was an extremely important mentor to me," said Jay Winsten, an HSPH associate dean who serves as the Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication. With Stanton's guidance, Winsten created the Center in 1985 with the mission of mobilizing the immense power of mass communication to improve public health. Starting in the late 1980s, the Center spearheaded the Designated Driver Campaign in the U.S.
"Frank Stanton was largely responsible for the success of the Designated Driver Campaign," Winsten said. "We met regularly at the NYC Harvard Club to discuss the project. He advocated extending the campaign to Hollywood by asking TV writers to depict the use of designated drivers in the scripts of prime-time programs. My training was in molecular biology, and I did not take immediately to the prospect of working with Hollywood, but he persevered and eventually introduced me to Grant Tinker, former NBC chairman, who took the campaign under his wing and arranged for me to meet with 250 TV producers and writers. With Frank Stanton's and Grant Tinker's support and guidance, I had the wind at my back and the project succeeded. Over 160 prime-time shows depicted the use of designated drivers, contributing to a 25 percent decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities."
While The New York Times' front-page obituary stated that Stanton left "no survivors," Winsten disagrees: "The many 'survivors' of those prevented crashes are one small part of Dr. Stanton's legacy."
Stanton also was remembered last week for his courage. In 1971, Stanton risked prison by defying the U.S. Congress in an historic confrontation that defended the First Amendment rights of broadcast journalists. Recalling that episode, legendary CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite said in a press release, "He faced jail to challenge a federal suit brought by Congress demanding the news sources that CBS had used in a documentary. But Stanton's unflagging courage and overwhelming commitment to justice on the case won the day, and considerably strengthened the free press rights of broadcast as well as print news sources."
Stanton received his Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University. His pioneering research in radio-audience measurement caught the attention of CBS, which hired him as a researcher in 1935. He built a three-person research office into a 100-strong department, and rose quickly through the ranks, becoming president in 1946 at the age of 38. He served as president until 1971.
In 1978, Stanton became the first person elected to Harvard's Board of Overseers who had not attended Harvard. He served on the HSPH Dean's Council; chaired the Visiting Committees of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and School of Design; and received an honorary degree from Harvard. A gift from CBS established the Frank Stanton Professorship of the First Amendment at the Kennedy School. Gifts from Stanton established the Ruth and Frank Stanton Professorship in Urban Policy and Planning at Harvard, and the Frank Stanton Directorship of HSPH's Center for Health Communication.
Stanton was founding chairman of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford. He served as chairman of the American Red Cross, chairman of the Rand Corporation, and helped to establish the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
Copyright, 2007, President and Fellows of Harvard College
