Board Member and Former RFE/RL Executive S. Enders Wimbush Steps Down
Washington, D.C. — S. Enders Wimbush has stepped down from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
“We extend our deepest thanks to Enders Wimbush for all he has done, not only during nearly two years with the Board, but through many years — including his leadership at RFE/RL during the collapse of communism and the demise of the Soviet Union,” BBG Presiding Governor Michael Lynton said today. “Enders has brought quality, erudition and distinction to the mission of U.S. international media; what’s more, he put his heart and soul into it. We will miss Enders’ contributions and company at our meetings, but will count on his continued involvement with our work.”
From 1987-93, Wimbush served as Director of Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany.
Wimbush recently became the Senior Director for Foreign Policy and Civil Society at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In a note to the Board this morning, he wrote, “Over the past few months, given the demands of that position and an increasingly heavy travel schedule, I have not been able to devote the time and attention to my BBG role that I would like. It therefore makes sense for the President, in consultation with Senator McConnell, to nominate someone who can devote the time and attention the BBG deserves.”
Wimbush has worked for Booz Allen Hamilton; Science Applications International Corporation; the Rand Corporation as a consultant, strategist and analyst of international security issues; and for Runzheimer International as director of communications.
Earlier, he directed the Society for Central Asian Studies in Oxford, England. In addition to dozens of policy studies for both the public and private sectors, Wimbush is the author or editor of seven books, including several authoritative histories of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and many articles on international strategy and security competition in scholarly, professional and popular media.
Wimbush studied for a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where he received his A.M. from the Committee on International Relations. He also holds a B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Wimbush was appointed to the Board on July 2, 2010 along with all of its other current members, with the exception of the Secretary of State, who serves on the Board ex-officio.
Note from S. Enders Wimbush to the BBG Board:
Dear Colleagues:
I write to inform you that I have submitted to the President my resignation from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
As you all know, I recently assumed a new position with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Over the past few months, given the demands of that position and an increasingly heavy travel schedule, I have not been able to devote the time and attention to my BBG role that I would like. It therefore makes sense for the President, in consultation with Senator McConnell, to nominate someone who can devote the time and attention the BBG deserves.
I will continue to assist the BBG in its critical mission and in carrying forward its important reform and restructuring agenda.
Sincerely,
SEW