RFE/RL appoints interim managers
Washington, D.C. — RFE/RL’s Board of Directors has appointed Vice President of Finance, CFO and Treasurer John Giambalvo and Editor-in-Chief for Programming Nenad Pejic to serve as Interim Managers of the Corporation. Their service begins on March 2, following the departure of Kevin Klose as President and CEO, and remains in effect until a new president is appointed. The RFE/RL Board of Directors consists of all of the members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
Commenting on the leadership change at RFE/RL, Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman Jeffrey Shell said, “Kevin Klose’s leadership in the past year has assured RFE/RL’s place in the forefront of independent journalism in an area of the world where uncensored news and information is in very short supply. I and the entire board have the utmost confidence in John Giambalvo and Nenad Pejic’s ability to further enhance RFE/RL’s reputation and impact as we search for Kevin’s successor.”
Giambalvo joined RFE/RL as Deputy CFO in 2009, after five years on the BBG staff as Policy and Program Coordinator. Giambalvo is a 1997 graduate of the Duke University School of Law, served as an Associate at Hale and Dorr LLP from 2000-2003 and as an Associate at White & Case LLP from 1997-2000. He also holds a Master’s degree from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University and has earned a B.S. in Business Administration at the State University of New York at Albany.
Pejic, who was named Editor-in-Chief in December 2013, joined RFE/RL in 1993 as the first Director of RFE/RL’s Balkan Service. Prior to this, Pejic held various positions with Sarajevo Television including the head of the news department, Belgrade correspondent, and Program Director. He also served briefly as the Head of Publications and Public Relations at the European Institute for the Media.
The Board has engaged a professional search firm to identify a successor president.