FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, 12/7/2023 — The University of North Carolina Board of Governors recently appointed Duane Hall and Catherine K. Watts to serve on PBS North Carolina’s Board of Trustees. Their leadership and professional background will be a vital resource to PBS North Carolina, whose mission is to provide transformational experiences and trusted content to educate, inform, entertain and inspire the people of North Carolina.
The UNC Board of Governors holds all of PBS North Carolina’s broadcast licenses and is legally responsible for the organization. PBS North Carolina’s Board of Trustees serves in an advisory role to the statewide public media organization and is an essential link to the public.
Duane Hall, who will fill a term ending June 30, 2025, is married to Katie Hall and has one son, Teddy Hall. Hall received his B.A. from NC State University and J.D. from Florida State University. A former criminal defense trial attorney, Hall is in private practice focusing on real estate, eminent domain and personal injury. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2012 and went on to serve three terms. Ranked as one of the most effective Democratic members of the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2015–17 session, Representative Hall was a primary sponsor of more successful legislation in his final term (ending in 2019) than any other Democratic member of the House, including the landmark Raise the Age bill, which raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction. Hall was appointed to the NC Courts Commission by Speaker Thom Tillis in 2013 and then reappointed by Speaker Tim Moore in 2015 and 2017. In 2018 North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper appointed Representative Hall to serve as Chairman of the North Carolina Courts Commission.
Catherine K. Watts, who will fill a term ending June 30, 2025, is a consultant at Labor Services International of Henderson, North Carolina, where she supports agricultural employers across the country in navigating the H-2A visa process for seasonal foreign labor. Watts is a North Carolina native and received her B.S. from NC State University in business administration with a concentration in supply chain management. She previously worked for Duke Energy, where she sourced major equipment for fossil-hydro and nuclear power plants. Watts resides in Raleigh and has been involved in several professional and community organizations, including Raleigh Rescue Mission’s Jobs for Life Program, Providence Baptist Church and the National Council of Agricultural Employers.
Duane Hall and Catherine Watts participated in their first board meeting on September 26, 2023.
The 23 members of the PBS North Carolina’s Board of Trustees reflect a cross section of the state, with 11 appointed by the UNC Board of Governors, four by the governor and one each by the president pro tempore of the Senate and speaker of the House.
Six members serve ex officio: the president of the University of North Carolina System and North Carolina’s secretary of Health and Human Services, president of the Community College System, superintendent of Public Instruction, secretary of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and secretary of Public Safety. Ex-officio members may name proxies to represent them on the board.
Board of Trustees (as of November 6, 2023)
Chair: Jack Clayton, Raleigh
Vice Chair: Anne Mayo Evans, Fayetteville
Seth Bennett, Charlotte
Jimmy Broughton, Winston-Salem
Eddie Buffaloe, Raleigh
James P. Cain, Raleigh
Culley C. Carson IV, Raleigh
Dr. Jeff Cox, Raleigh
Rick French, Cary
Brenda C. Gibson, Raleigh
Duane Hall, Raleigh
Peter Hans, Chapel Hill
Kody H. Kinsley, Raleigh
Dr. Katie Lowry, Lumberton
Pat Rodgers, Charlotte
Dr. Charles A. Sanders, Durham
Michael Schoenfeld, Durham
Russell Smith, Washington
Catherine Truitt, Raleigh
Catherine K. Watts, Raleigh
Bill R. West, Fayetteville
Reid Wilson, Raleigh
Don Woodard, Asheville
PBS North Carolina’s Board of Trustees meets quarterly, and the meetings are open to the public. The next meetings will be held Tuesdays, December 5, 2023, and March 5, 2024. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings begin at 11 AM and are held at PBS North Carolina, located at the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Communications Center, 10 UNC-TV Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
For more information about PBS North Carolina’s Board of Trustees, visit pbsnc.org/about/board-of-trustees.
As North Carolina’s statewide PBS network serving the country’s third largest public media market, PBS North Carolina educates, informs, entertains and inspires its audience on air, online and in person. Through its unique partnership of public investment and private support, the network includes in-person engagement, digital-first social and online content delivery and four over-the-air channels: PBS NC, the North Carolina Channel, Rootle 24/7 PBS KIDS channel and the Explorer Channel. Its transformational events and content spark curiosity and wonder for all North Carolinians. Additionally, PBS North Carolina serves as the backbone for North Carolina’s state emergency services. To learn more about PBS North Carolina, visit pbsnc.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
-PBS NC-
Media Contact
Allyson Meade, Marketing & Communications
PBS North Carolina
press@pbsnc.org