John J. Sie

John J. Sie is a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist. Retired, from Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG), he was the founder and Chairman of that company. Established in 1991, the company is owned by Liberty Media Corporation, a Colorado-based entity which is the parent of 13 premium movie networks, including Starz and Encore.

Early life

Born and raised in China, Sie came to the United States when he was 14 years old. During high school he lived in an orphanage in New York. As a young man he earned B.E.E. and M.E.E. degrees from Manhattan College and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1957 and 1958.

Career

After school Sie began his career in 1958 with RCA Defense Electronics Division on advanced microwave solid state devices. In 1960, he co-founded and later became chairman and CEO of Micro State Electronics Corp. That company later became a subsidiary of the Raytheon Co. Sie then joined Jerrold Electronics Corp, a subsidiary of General Instrument Co., as General Manager and Sr. Vice President of the Cable Television Division. Sie then began work for Showtime Entertainment as Sr. Vice President of sales and marketing.

In 1984, Sie left the East Coast and joined Colorado's Tele-Communications Inc. (now Comcast and Liberty Media), as Sr. Vice President in charge of strategic planning, programming, marketing, technology, and government relations. In 1989 he submitted the first white paper on digital High Definition Television (HDTV) to the United States Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. Because of that paper, many in the television community consider him the father of digital television; a technology that would dramatically change the landscape of television.

Sie retired in January 2005 as CEO of SEG, a post he held since the company was founded, in order to devote more time to his philanthropic activities.

Philanthropy and civic involvement

Sie and his wife, Anna Maglione Sie, established the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation in 2005. The Foundation supports philanthropic endeavors throughout the global community, with emphasis on Down syndrome, education, media, business, and technology.

The Foundation supports: the University of Colorado’s Sie Family Down Syndrome Break-Through Research Initiative; the University of Denver’s Chair of Italian Language and Culture Anna Maglione-Sie; the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST); the Denver Art Museum.

The Foundation is the founding donor of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (LCI). It is the first global institute to encompass basic research, clinical research and clinical care solely for individuals with Down syndrome. The institute is tasked with eradicate the medical and cognitive ill effects associated with the genetic disorder. Partners in the establishment and the ongoing work of the institute are the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the University of Colorado Boulder and The Children’s Hospital.

Sie is a member of the Committee of 100, a non-partisan organization composed of outstanding American citizens of Chinese descent. In honor of his father, Sie established the Sie Cheou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Sie supports the Chinese Executive Media Management Program. He helped establish that visiting scholar program in 2000 at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. He belongs to the honor fraternity Sigma Xi and the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.^[1]

Awards

Sie received numerous awards and honors: 2010 Community Cultural Enrichment Award, Mizel Museum, 2009 Chinese American Hero, Asian Week Magazine, 2009 Man and Woman of the Year, The Villager, 2008 Asian Pacific Americans in Business, Voices from Colorado, 2003 Inductee, Cable Television Hall of Fame,2002 International Bridge Builder Award, Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, 2001 Chairman’s Award, Cable Television Administration and Marketing Association (CTAM, 2001 Stanley B. Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award, National Association of Minorities in Communications (NAMIC), 2001 Bridge Builder Asian American Leadership Award, The AURA Fund and aMedia, Inc., 2001 Bill Daniels Business Leader of the Year, The Denver Business Journal, 1986 Grand Tam Award CTAM, 1982 Robert H. Beisswenger Memorial Award (Vanguard Associates Award) by the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), 1960 RCA David Sarnoff Fellowship, 1958 Microwave Research Institute Fellow, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn^[2]

Personal life

John Sie is married and has several children, one of whom is Michelle Whitten.

References