Elizabeth G. Courtney, known as Beth Courtney (born May 15, 1945), has since 1985 been the president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Louisiana Public Broadcasting is a state-run, viewer-supported state network of Public Broadcasting Service non-commercial educational Public television member stations serving the state of Louisiana outside Greater New Orleans. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television...

, her state's educational technology resources center based in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. She is also the vice chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...

, having been appointed as a political Independent in 2003 by U.S. President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

. Her term expires in 2010.

She holds a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 and speech

Speech

Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...

 and a Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in European history and government from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...

 in Hammond

Hammond, Louisiana

Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

. She completed a course in public broadcasting management at the University of California at Berkeley.

Work at LPB

LPB is a six-station television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 network with affiliates in Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Monroe

Monroe, Louisiana

Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...

, Alexandria

Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

, Lafayette

Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

, Lake Charles

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...

, and Baton Rouge, with a seventh affiliated station in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. The network has produced award-winning documentaries, including Louisiana: A History in six parts; Uncle Earl, about former Governor Earl Kemp Long; Kate Chopin: A Reawakening, about the Louisiana author Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty , was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century....

, and Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard, about the photographer Herman Leonard

Herman Leonard

Herman Leonard was an American photographer known for his unique images of jazz icons.-Life:...

. Other productions have included Atchafalaya Houseboat set on the Atchafalaya River

Atchafalaya River

The Atchafalaya River is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River....

 in south Louisiana, Washing Away: Losing Louisiana about the disappearance of the state's wetlands, Katrina's Smallest Victims, a focus on Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

, Return to the Forest Where We Live, and Louisiana War Stories.She also helped to launch and co-hosts Louisiana Public Square, a monthly public affairs program which permits viewers to voice their own input.

Prior to her appointment as CEO of LPB, she was the network's executive producer, a position held in 2010 by Clay Fourrier. She has reported on multiple aspects of state government and moderated candidate political forums. In 1984, she was named "Broadcaster of the Year" by American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT) . In 1999, she was inducted into the Louisiana Center for Women and Government at Nicholls State University

Nicholls State University

Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...

 in Thibodaux

Thibodaux, Louisiana

Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...

.She is a member and past president of the Baton Rouge Press Club. She was instrumental in developing LPB's annual "Louisiana Legends" program. The National D-Day Museum

National World War II Museum

The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Magazine Street. It focuses on the contribution made by the United States to victory by the...

 once honored her for having co-hosted a three-hour live program, "Louisiana Honors Its Veterans," commemorating veterans of World War II

Surviving U.S. veterans of World War II

-Number of U.S. Veterans:16,112,566 individuals were members of the United States armed forces during World War II. There were 291,557 battle deaths, 113,842 other deaths in service , and 670,846 non-mortal woundings...

.

Courtney has frequently testified before congressional committees. She has appeared on such public affairs programs as CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

's Sunday Morning

CBS News Sunday Morning

CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...

and thwo former series Firing Line

Firing Line

Firing Line was an American public affairs show founded and hosted by conservative William F. Buckley, Jr. Its 1,504 episodes over 33 years made Firing Line the longest-running public affairs show in television history with a single host...

, hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr.

William F. Buckley, Jr.

William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...

, and the CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

  offering, Crossfire

Crossfire (TV series)

Crossfire was a current events debate television program that aired from 1982 to 2005 on CNN. Its format was designed to present and challenge the opinions of a politically liberal pundit and a conservative pundit.-Format:...

, once co-hosted by conservative columnist and former presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan.

Controversy

In 2006 the Louisiana Ethics Commission fined Courtney and her husband, Robert Louis "Bob" Courtney (born October 4, 1949), who operates a Baton Rouge public relations firm and a film/video production company, $10,000 for violating a provision of the Louisiana ethics code. The violation involved receiving payments from a private company, which hired Bob Courtney’s firm, and did business with a Louisiana public broadcasting entity under Beth Courtney's control. Under the state Code of Ethics, subcontractors and contractors must comply with the provision which forbids nepotism

Nepotism

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....

. The Courtneys did not contest the ethics board findings.

Personal life

Courtney is affiliated with Rotary International

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

, the Junior League

Junior League

The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...

, Special Olympics

Special Olympics

Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....

, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, Inc., and the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

History =Mary Bird Perkins is active in the treatment and early detection of cancer. From the outset, the Center was created to be available to all community members in need of its services—regardless of ability to pay...

. Beth and Bob Courtney have a daughter, Julia, an attorney, and two grandchildren.