PBS Honors Molly Phillips, Former General Manager of Iowa PBS, With Dan Miller Station Leadership Award
An image of Molly Phillips, a white woman with short blonde hair wearing a magenta blazer, standing in front of the Iowa Press television set.

PBS has announced that Molly Phillips was honored with the Dan Miller Station Leadership Award to celebrate three decades of service in public media. This award recognizes leaders in the public media system whose vision, courage and commitment to the mission of public media have inspired their colleagues and created a lasting impact in their communities. PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger presented the award to Phillips at the organization’s annual gathering of member stations in Las Vegas.     

The Dan Miller Station Leadership Award is named in honor of Dan Miller, a longtime executive director and general manager of Iowa PBS who passed away in February 2018. Receiving the inaugural PBS Station Leadership Award in 2016, Miller was recognized for his outstanding contributions to public media as a leader at the local level as well as across the system as a whole.

“It is with deep admiration and gratitude that PBS honors Molly Phillips for being a public media champion, who served with vision, integrity and selflessness,” said Kerger. “Molly’s impact was enormous, touching so many lives in communities across Iowa, and throughout public media. It’s safe to say her legacy will remain an inspiration for everyone in the PBS system.”

Phillips led Iowa PBS as executive director and general manager from 2013-2023 and began her service in 1990, devoting her entire professional career to the advancement of public television both locally and nationally. During her tenure, she served in a variety of professional roles, including human resources, communications and community engagement.

Under Phillips’ leadership, Iowa PBS celebrated 50 years of broadcasting, added the Iowa PBS KIDS channel, added a YouTube channel and multiple livestreams and on-demand viewing options, and earned dozens of national awards and regional Emmys. While leading Iowa PBS, she shared her time and talents with a long list of national organizations advancing the vision and goals of public media, including as professional vice chair on the PBS board of directors, chair of the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives, and chair of the Affinity Group Coalition of Public Media Organizations.

Other previous honorees include Executive Director of Arkansas Educational Television Network Allen Weatherly (2017), Wisconsin Public Media Director Malcolm Brett (2018), President and Chief Executive Officer of Nine Network of Public Media Jack Galmiche (2019), Jim Pagliarini, Twin Cities Public Television former President and Chief Executive Officer (2020), Tom Axtell, Vegas PBS General Manager (2021), and Don Boswell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Buffalo Toronto Public Media (2021), Beth Courtney, CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (2022), and former PBS President and CEO, Bruce Christensen (2023).