Undergraduate Alumni Spotlight
Annenberg School graduates are doing innovative, meaningful work around the world
– in academic and professional fields.
Bruce A. Lefkowitz, Penn '87
Executive Vice President
Fox Cable Entertainment Networks
To get to the top, you have to have a passion for what you do – a principle emphasized
in resounding pitch by Bruce Lefkowitz. “Twenty-one years after graduation, I still
get a kick out of talking about being in the Entertainment business when I’m at
cocktail parties.”
As Executive Vice President for Fox Cable Entertainment Networks, Mr. Lefkowitz,
an Annenberg undergrad alumni, is at the forefront of media innovation and communication
advancement. Responsible for managing national advertising sales, he describes the
three networks that he maintains [Fox Channel; National Geographic Channel; and
Fox Reality Channel] by characterizing them as his three different children.
“At home, I have six kids with totally different personalities,” says the 6-foot-7
former Penn basketball player, and father to a set of quadruplets and twins. “At
work, National Geographic Channel is like my inquisitive child that gets a viewership
ranging from age 25 to 54; FX is one of the largest television programs with a viewership
age-range of 18 to 49; and Fox Reality is comparable to my irreverent teenage children…all
three of these programs are diverse with their own intrinsic needs and require different
representation in the large media.”
Prior to this highly-visible media position, Mr. Lefkowitz worked in advertising
sales management at Turner Broadcasting and Discovery Communications. He attributes
much of his career’s longitudinal success to the practical and novel education he
received while at Penn and through the mentorship of Penn alumni, Joseph Cohen (Penn
’68, Wharton’70), current CEO of HTN Communications (formerly Hughes Television
Network), who he worked with at Madison Square Garden Network. “Joe offered me the
opportunity to get into the media business which not only gave me the career I have,
but also ultimately led me to my wife.”
Mr. Lefkowitz stresses the importance of learning the business-side of communications,
explaining that many students entering the major are not aware of this integral
side, seeing the study as being too broad. “There are two different sides of the
communications curriculum,” he said, breaking the major into a formula. “One is
a theoretical side and the other is policy-focused, or, the business side. Too often,
the business side of this major is overlooked. But this School exposes both sides
of the curriculum – one of the chief reasons, frankly, why I chose Penn.”
Mr. Lefkowitz played center for the Penn basketball team. Garnering two Ivy titles,
he went on to play for the Philadelphia Aces in the summer of 1987 and briefly in
France.
Mr. Lefkowtiz’s professional affiliations include: Board of Directors Vacamas Programs
for Youth; City Meals on Wheels Media Battle of the Bands Executive Committee; Valerie
Fund Karaoke for Kids Executive Committee; Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame
2007; and Volunteer Harrison Recreation. He now lives in Purchase, New York with
his wife and children.