Jane Cahill Pfeiffer

Jane Cahill Pfeiffer, born as Jane Pennington Cahill on September 29, 1932 in Washington, D.C. was the first chairwoman of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) between 1978 and 1980.^[1]

Education

She earned a B.A. in speech and drama from the University of Maryland in 1954. From 1956 to 1957 she undertook graduate courses in philosophy at Georgetown University and Catholic University. Before starting her career at IBM as a systems-engineer trainee she entered a novitiate to become a Roman Catholic nun, leaving after six months.^[1]

NBC

During her tenure at NBC, she solved an internal criminal scandal, reduced the NBC board of directors from eighteen to nine members, and reorganized the news division. However, her staff found that her memos were arrogant, did not delegate responsibility, and disliked her wholesale replacements in the finance, personnel, and technical areas.^[1] She resigned in 1980.^[1] Before her work at NBC, she was a vice president of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).^[2]

White House fellow

She had also been appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 to serve as the first female White House fellow, during which she worked with Robert Wood, undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, on streamlining the Housing and Home Finance Agency.^[1]

Original "Supersister"

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Pfeiffer's name and picture.^[3]

References