Neal Shapiro
The former president of NBC News, Shapiro is the president of public television channel Thirteen/WNET.
Raised in upstate New York, Shapiro graduated from Tufts and started working for ABC News immediately thereafter. Working his way up from assistant to segment producer for World News Tonight, he left ABC after thirteen years for rival NBC. Although NBC had tried to launch a newsmagazine over a dozen times, Shapiro made his mark as producer for Dateline, one of the most popular and awarded newsmagazines of all time. His success with Dateline landed him the promotion of President of NBC News, and his responsibilities included not only overseeing the operations of MSNBC, but also guiding NBC's news programs through major transitions, like Tom Brokaw's retirement. With NBC News' programs holding the top rank in each time slot during his tenure, Shapiro moved on to public television in 2007 and was promoted to President and CEO of WNET in early 2008. Under his watchful eye, WNET has maintained its high caliber of programming, and Shapiro has even launched a few newer shows, such as Reel 13, which showcases independent and short films, and WorldFocus, a nightly news program. [Image via Getty]