Sharon Percy Rockefeller has served the public media community for more than 40 years as a leader and policymaker. She has been president and chief executive officer of WETA, Washington, D.C.’s flagship public media station, since 1989. Rockefeller, a 2019 National Medal of Arts recipient for her extraordinary leadership and advocacy in the arts and public media, continues to guide WETA to outstanding accomplishments in broadcasting, production, digital education resources, and civic engagement — all in support of the mission to promote lifelong learning. Before assuming the top post at WETA, she served on the WETA Board of Trustees for seven years, including three years as chair; and was a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for 12 years, including four years as chair. She was also a member of the board of directors of PBS for 19 years.
A graduate of Stanford University, Rockefeller is active in a number of areas including the arts, education, government, and women’s issues. She serves on the board of trustees of The Museum of Modern Art and is president of the museum’s International Council. She is a member of the Rockefeller Foundation Board and is a trustee emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Board. Rockefeller is a member of the National Academy of Medicine President’s Advisory Council and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a member of The Economic Club of Washington, The Dean’s Council of the Washington National Cathedral, a member and former chairman of the Stanford-in-Washington Council, and a member of The James Madison Council of The Library of Congress. She is the 2021 recipient of the Annenberg Award from Foundation for Art & Preservation in Embassies (FAPE). In 2022, she was named a member of the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award Nominating Committee.
Rockefeller is a Trustee Emeritus of the National Gallery of Art; she is a former board member of Sibley Memorial Hospital; and PepsiCo, Inc. She previously served as a member of the board of directors of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Rockefeller Family Office; and she was chair of the Rockefeller Cousins Association. She was a member of the board of trustees of The Phillips Collection, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Stanford University, the University of Chicago and The George Washington University; and she previously served as a member of the board of directors of Sotheby’s. Formerly, Rockefeller served as a member of the Kennedy Center Community & Friends Board, The Federal City Council, the Commission of the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, the Harvard Art Museum’s Collections Committee, Smithsonian Associates, and the Smithsonian American Art Commission.
She is married to retired West Virginia Senator John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV. They have four children and eight grandchildren.