Gift In Honor of Station’s 50th Anniversary

Austin, TX — KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, announces that Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Turpin have created the Sandy and Dudley Youman Fund within the KLRU Endowment honoring two of the station’s key supporters and the station’s 50th anniversary.

“PBS’s success depends on having best friends, and KLRU, Ian, and I have all survived and thrived because of the selfless service and extraordinary talent of our unsung heroes Sandy and Dudley Youman,” Johnson said. “Their tireless commitment of time, talent and treasure has been a blessing beyond measure to PBS and to us and we know the greatest way to thank them is to give back to the cause they love.”

“Sandy and Dudley certainly have a place at center stage in the history of KLRU, and I’m very happy that this gift recognizes that and helps us continue the station’s great work into the next 50 years,” said KLRU CEO Bill Stotesbery.

The Sandy and Dudley Youman Fund, part of the KLRU Endowment, will be used to help support KLRU programming and events. The KLRU Endowment was established in 1991 to provide a permanent fund that furthers KLRU’s vision to make Central Texas the most vibrant, informed, and engaged community in the country through the creative use of educational and inspirational content.

Sandy Youman retired from KLRU in 2005 after a career at the station spanning two decades. While at KLRU, Youman was instrumental in building membership, increasing major donors and in creating the Producers Circle. Sandy and Dudley, a physician, have continued to support KLRU and other non-profit organizations in Austin through their boundless volunteer activities.

“As I told Luci,” Sandy Youman said, “This is a real ‘grace-gift,’ defined as thoroughly unexpected, unnecessary at a level of such magnitude, but certainly really appreciated! I am humbled and thrilled that through this fund we can continue to play a part in making a difference for KLRU; not only inspiring the next generation of Youmans, but for the KLRU families throughout Austin, Central Texas and beyond.”

About KLRU
KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, presents quality multimedia content that engages people in the thoughtful exchange of ideas, the expression of the arts, and enjoyable lifelong learning opportunities, resulting in a more vibrant community and a higher quality of life. In addition to providing locally produced and quality national television programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through educational workshops, community engagement projects and public events. Known as the producing station of the longest-running live music television show Austin City Limits, KLRU has also worked on several other national productions including Overheard with Evan Smith and documentaries like Citizen Architect and Last Best Hope. Get more information about KLRU at klru.org.

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This gift will enable us to perform an annual market tracking study, as well as monthly viewer and member studies.   We will turn an eye toward programming and campaign measurement, Web and social media, and the KLRU Member Advisory Panel.  As a result of this gift, the community data we capture will be representative of Central Texas Households as never before, and we will incorporate this data in a meaningful way into the planning and execution of our ongoing strategy.

We are delighted that the Douglas Drane Charitable Trust will continue partnering with our station to further refine our community identity so that, as we are inspired by Austin, we may better inspire Austin.  Thank you!

Through this project, KLRU will re-master and distribute 8 new episodes of our award-winning arts series, Arts In Context. Each half-hour program will utilize content from the best of these original segments. The final result will be the creation of a nationally broadcast series incorporating the highest production values to present a diverse and engaging selection of artists and their work.

KLRU is proud to showcase the inspiration of Central Texas creatives and share their vision with the greater American public.

Smith’s work as an actress includes roles in theater, film and television. She is also well known as the author of critically acclaimed plays and books. It’s a career that has won wide respect, as well as a number of awards, including two Obies, two Tony nominations and a spot as a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.

To see her Texas Monthly Talks appearance, tune into KLRU on May 27th. To find out more information on KLRU’s Producer Circle and future Producer Circle events, contact Sharon Guess at sguess@klru.org.

Erin Winfrey (left) and Douglas Drane (right) from Drane Associates present KLRU General Manager, Bill Stotesbery, with a $25,000 gift for KLRU’s CRISP initiative

Douglas Drane of the Douglas Drane Charitable Trust recently donated $25,000 to KLRU’s Community Research Information and Service Project (CRISP). This project is central to KLRU achieving its mission to provide quality content that engages people- leading to a more vibrant community. Upon completion, CRISP will enable KLRU to enhance our ability to communicate with viewers and donors through enhanced web experiences. Mr. Drane’s considerable contribution will significantly help foster innovation and reduce fundraising costs by increasing our capacity to engage in electronic communication with our members, allowing us to devote more resources to the programming and services so valued by the Central Texas community.