All it took
was for George L. Miles, Jr. to be humiliated to know that he would settle
for nothing but success. Miles was eight years old when he paid for groceries
with food stamps and suffered ridicule from the store's workers who laughed
at him.
According to an interview in Pittsburgh's Tribune-Review,
Miles' family was on welfare at the time, and this experience provided
nothing but motivation for him. "When I wanted to slack off, I always
got energy from that experience," Miles said.
Today, Miles is president and chief executive officer
of WQED Multimedia, the public broadcaster for southwestern Pennsylvania
and the parent company of television and radio stations, the WQED publishing
division and the WQED Education Resource Center.
He is also a certified public accountant and known for his
knowledge of business and finance. In 1983, Miles was a member of a team that
helped National Public Radio out of a financial crisis. He also resurrected
WQED out of its slump in 1994, when the company was basically bankrupt. Joining
WQED and public broadcasting was not a first for Miles. He spent 10 years as
executive vice president and chief operating officer of a Public Broadcasting
Service flagship station in New York City prior to making his move to Pittsburgh.
"Don't define yourself
by something
outside of you or allow others to."
Miles earned a bachelor's degree from Seton
Hall University and a master's in business administration degree from Fairleigh
Dickinson University. In 1989, he was awarded the Pinnacle Award from his
graduate school, which recognizes outstanding achievements of alumnus. The
same year, St. Joseph's College presented Miles with an honorary doctor of
laws degree. A more recent honor was from Robert Morris University, where
he received an honorary degree of doctor of business administration.
Miles serves on the boards of various organizations,
including Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Harley-Davidson, Inc., and WESCO
International, Inc. He is a former chair of the Urban League of Pittsburgh
and former co-chair of Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Years ago, Miles did not allow the grocery
store workers to deter him. For this reason, Miles encourages others with
the following: "Don't define yourself by something outside of you or
allow others to."
