Reed, Robert M.

Robert Monroe Reed, son of Carl A. and Hazel A. (Dockendorf) Reed, was born on February 18, 1932 in Sheldon, Iowa. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1949 to 1952 in Korea. Two years later, he married Maxine Kathryn Gordon with whom he had three children named Robert G., Richard K. and Deri L. He then earned his BA from the University of Iowa in 1956 and his MA from the University of Michigan in 1958.

Reed's public broadcasting career began as a production manager at WETV, Atlanta, Georgia from 1958 to 1960. Then, he served as a program manager at WHA-TV, Madison, Wisconsin from 1960 to 1962. While in Wisconsin, he started his involvement in the national arena of public broadcasting, serving as a member on the National Association of Educational Broadcasters ' TV Planning and TV Advisory Committees from 1962 to 1964.

In 1962, Reed founded KHET-TV Honolulu, Hawaii and was its general manager until 1969. During the summer of 1962, he taught a course on using television as a teaching aid at the University of Hawaii. In 1964, having left the University of Wisconsin, Reed received a permanent appointment at the University of Hawaii, where he was an associate professor and an associate director of the Communications Center. He also served as chairman of the Honolulu Council of Churches in 1965. He then went to Washington, DC where he was executive director of PBS Video from 1969 to 1976. Next, he served as the general manager of KUED-TV Salt Lake City, Utah, from 1976 to 1978 .

Reed's professional memberships document his involvement in educational and public broadcasting. He also belonged to the Association of Educational Communications and Technology and was part of the Rocky Mountain Corporation of Public Broadcasting, serving as its director for 1977 to 1979 . Reed served as a director, and as a member of the board of governors of the Pacific Mountain Network from 1976 to 1979, and served as one of the Public Broadcasting Service directors from 1978 to 1979 .

From 1978 to 1988, Reed served as executive vice president of the National Video Clearinghouse, Inc. and has been the president of Reed-Gordon Publishing, Inc. from 1988 to the present. He has been a consultant for the Toronto Board of Education, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the National Science Foundation. He wrote the books American Telecommunications Market (1982), and co-authored with his wife Maxine, Career Opportunities in TV and Video (1982, 1986, 1990) and published the annuals The Video Source Book (1978-1989) and Video Tape/Disc Guides (1978-1988). In 1989, Reed began working on a book which will trace the history and development of each public broadcasting station.

From the guide to the Robert M. Reed Papers, 1954-1991, 1971-1978, (Mass Media and Culture)