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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release March 16, 1994
               PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES GEOFFREY COWAN 
                  DIRECTOR OF THE VOICE OF AMERICA

     President Clinton today announced the appointment of Geoffrey

Cowan as the Director of the Voice of America (VOA) at the U.S. Information Agency. Cowan will serve as the 19th Director of VOA, the international radio broadcasting service of the U.S. Information Agency. His father, Louis G. Cowan, served as the second director of VOA, from August 1, 1943, to August 31, 1945.

"Geoffrey Cowan has been an important force in almost every facet of the communications world -- as a public interest lawyer, best-selling author and award- winning teacher, playwright, television producer and public servant," said the President. "The Voice of America will be served well with another Cowan at its helm."

For the past 20 years, Mr. Cowan has taught communications law and policy at UCLA and was most recently named director of the school's new Center for Communication Policy. While teaching at UCLA, Cowan worked as an Emmy Award-winning television producer, most recently receiving an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of the movie MARK TWAIN AND ME, which was voted the Outstanding Prime Time Program for Children by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His UCLA center hosted the "Superhighway Information Summit," in Los Angeles, which was addressed by Vice- President Gore. From 1979-84, Cowan was a member of Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, playing a key role in the development of National Public Radio.

Mr. Cowan is the author of the L.A. Times' best seller, People v. Clarence Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America's Greatest Lawyer. His radio play on the Pentagon Papers battle, starring Ed Asner and Marsha Mason, won Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Gold Medal for Excellence in Best Live Entertainment. Cowan served as chair of California Common Cause. He was also the chairman of the Los Angeles Commission that wrote the city's new ethics code, cited as a model for the nation. Other civic activities include key roles in the NAACP, the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress.

Cowan lives in Los Angeles and is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law school. He is married to attorney Aileen Adams, legal counsel to the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center. They have two children, Mandy, 10, and Gabe, 20.

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