The HistoryMakers, a Chicago-based educational nonprofit that produces and archives personal stories of notable African-Americans, is offering free engagement toolkits as part of its “ScienceMakers: African Americans & Scientific Innovation” oral history project. The three-year National Science Foundation–funded initiative will produce interviews of 180 of the nation’s top African-American scientists, corresponding curriculum and public programs. Each scientist’s biography, along with activities related to their specific field and guidelines for aligning the content with classroom lessons, is available as a PDF toolkit. By registering at the site, pubcasters will have access to the “ScienceMakers” digital archive, which currently contains 40 three-hour interviews with an array of scientists.

Personal Audio says it has a patent covering the technology used in podcasting. A representative for the company said no public broadcasters should have received contact from him, but that has not been the case.

A radio broadcaster-turned lawmaker who chairs a key House subcommittee with oversight of CPB delivered a pointed critique to public TV station execs about their prospects for preserving federal aid in the 113th Congress. During a Feb. 26 breakfast hosted by the Association of Public Television Stations at the Library of Congress, Oregon Rep. Greg Walden (R) warned a roomful of station executives that they face an uphill battle in rebuilding bipartisan support for the field. Republican views of public broadcasting are colored by negative baggage carried over from the 2010-11 political scandals over NPR, and the notion that increased competition from cable and digital channels has made public TV less relevant to television viewers, Walden said.

The Iowa Public Radio Board of Directors on Monday terminated Mary Grace Herrington, its chief executive officer, reports the Gazette in Cedar Rapids. The vote was six in favor of dismissal and one against, Mark Braun, University of Iowa chief of staff, told the Des Moines Register. He said he voted against termination because he was new to the board and has had limited interaction with Herrington. Herrington joined IPR as its c.e.o. in January 2009. She oversaw operations, brand management, programming, audience development and all revenue channels; the station has an annual budget of $7.8 million. Previously she was assistant vice president for advancement operations at Creighton University in Omaha.

Stanley Karnow, whose book Vietnam: A History was the basis of a critically acclaimed 13-hour documentary on PBS, died Jan. 27 at his home in Potomac, Md. He was 87.

Independent Television Service (ITVS) and the United States Institute of Peace are partnering on the fourth Media as Global Diplomat leadership series, this time titled Media that Moves Millions, Thursday in Washington, D.C. It’s aimed at leveraging media worldwide to highlight innovative models for international conflict prevention. Speakers include Kathy Calvin, president of the United Nations Foundation; Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Nicholas Kristof; Ben Keesey, c.e.o. of Invisible Children, the organization behind the Kony 2012 initiative; journalist Frank Sesno; Matthew Perault, manager for privacy and global policy at Facebook; and Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation to the Secretary of State.

For the last few years, three well-funded buyout firms have been quietly picking up licenses to commercial and noncommercial TV stations in a gamble on big payouts from next year’s FCC incentive auction of television spectrum. Current’s research of FCC license applications filed since 2010 found at least 25 separate deals involving three firms: OTA Broadcasting, NRJ TV and LocusPoint Networks. The stations they’ve acquired to date are on the peripheries of major markets, primarily ranging from Boston to Washington, D.C., in the eastern U.S. and from Seattle down to Los Angeles along the West Coast. The three firms are all owned or funded by private equity firms that command billions in assets.

Rod Bates, general manager of NET in Nebraska, is postponing his March 31 retirement by three months to allow the search for his successor to continue, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Also, Jeff Beckman, the state pubcasting network’s top fundraiser, announced his resignation last month, just days after learning he was not among finalists for Bates’ job. He told the newspaper he had been on  “parallel” tracks for both positions, and that failing to make the final cut with NET just “made my decision a whole lot easier.” Bates, who announced his retirement last July, also said that he would be willing to stay past June 30 to ensure a smooth transition in leadership and fundraising.

CPB is presenting its Thought Leader Award tonight to former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education. The alliance is a partner in CPB’s ongoing American Graduate drop-out prevention initiative. “Gov. Wise and the Alliance for Excellent Education are champions for public media’s American Graduate initiative and the educational services that public broadcasting stations provide to their communities,” said CPB President Patricia Harrison in the announcement. “His lifelong commitment to the education of American youth is making a difference, helping more students to graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and in their careers.”

Representatives from four sectors of the public service community made a case for more partnerships with public television during the opening session of the Association of Public Television Stations’ 2013 Public Media Summit Feb. 24 in Arlington, Va. Jane Oates, assistant secretary of employment and training administration with the U.S. Department of Labor, was the most vocal of the panel as she urged public television to collaborate more with local and state government workforce-training programs as a way of sharing key information to the nation’s legions of unemployed workers. “Think how much better we could do if you joined with us.