Richard H. Madden, a veteran public broadcasting executive with 30 years of experience, including a decade at the station level, worked at CPB since 1983. He died on February 21, 2002, after a long illness.
Madden was appointed Vice President, Radio in May 1998. He oversaw the Corporation's Public Radio Competitive Funds and policy development for CPB's Radio Community Service Grant program.
Madden served as the founding Director of the Corporation's Radio Program Fund, created in 1986. It continues today with its original goal of identifying new national broadcast programming but with the additional aim of finding programming which, while consistent with public radio's values, is intended for the new media environment. Funded projects include several of public radio's top programs, creation of Native American and Hispanic satellite networks and related programming, the programming for national and state-based internet services, programming for digital direct broadcast satellite services, the production of the first station-based nationally distributed daily broadcast series, the production of public radio's first west coast-originated news program, the production of public radio's first outreach specials, and programs and series which have won multiple national and international award.
Madden led three major national reviews (1992, 1995, and 1998) of CPB's station grant policies. The 1992 review led to the creation of financial incentives for CPB-funded minority and rural stations. The 1995 review led to the development of the first audience-based performance standards for public radio and the creation of the Public Radio Future Fund. Madden served as first director of the fund designed to support initiatives to increase the industry's non-governmental financial support and to achieve increased productivity and new operating efficiencies that result in significant savings. The 1998 review led to a realignment of the grant programs and also a multipart strategy for increasing the financial stability of CPB-funded rural stations.
In addition to being CPB's first Program Fund and Future Fund director, Madden also was the first director of the CPB System Development Fund, which financed training, development, and other non-production radio and television activities.
Prior to joining CPB, Madden held the following posts:
- assistant director, later associate director, the Ohio University Telecommunications Center, Athens, Ohio [1975-1983],
- director of educational broadcasting and assistant professor of education, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia [1972-1975], and
- tenured instructor, Learning Resources and Mass Media Department, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania [1969-1972].
Madden received a 1968 Master of Arts in Speech (Radio and Television) at the Ohio State University and a 1967 Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.