I'd like to thank the Academy

From 2001 to 2003, I served as the chairman/CEO of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. These are the people who give out the Emmy awards. It was a volunteer position which I was elected to by the Board of Governors in August of 2001.

Two very important events occured on my watch. The first was 9/11 which happened immediately after my election and forced two cancelations of the Emmy Awards. The other was our license fee negotiation which led to a 250 percent increase in what the four networks paid the Academy for the right to broadcast the awards.

This photo, by the way, is a picture of my wife, Jackie, and myself at the 2001 Emmy Awards. The third try, that is, on November 4, 2001 (in competition with the World Series) after being canceled on September 16, 2001 (five days after 9/11) and canceled again on October 7, 2001 (the day we started bombing Afghanistan).

Interesting times...