Iowa Public Radio names new executive director

Myrna Johnson, a former government relations associate for NPR who now directs a Boston nonprofit, has been named the next executive director of Iowa Public Radio. The Iowa Public Radio Board of Directors  announced Johnson’s appointment Nov. 5,  ending a  seven-month nationwide search for successor to Mary Grace Herrington, who was dismissed in February.  Herrington contested the firing and both parties agreed to a $197,000 settlement in May. Johnson departs the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, a public-private partnership that oversees renovation of  schoolyards in Boston’s urban neighborhoods, where she has worked as executive director since 2009.