Tadeusz (Ted) A. Lipien is an international media executive, journalist, writer, blogger, and press freedom advocate. He worked in or wrote about U.S. international broadcasting for over 50 years, beginning as a radio announcer for the Voice of America (VOA) in 1973 and serving as President of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from December 18, 2020 to January 23, 2021 in a non-political and non-partisan role. Lipien reported in Polish and English on developments in Poland and Eastern Europe, becoming Chief of VOA’s Polish Service in 1982 during the Solidarity trade union’s struggle for democracy. He interviewed Vice President George H. W. Bush (future U.S. President), Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (future Pope John Paul II), Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa (future President of Poland), and many other Polish democratic opposition leaders who later held top positions in various post-Cold War governments in Poland. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, he took a hiatus from journalism to build a network of VOA and RFE/RL affiliate stations in Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and, eventually, Iraq and Afghanistan. Lipien then became the Director of the Eurasia Division at VOA, where he expanded television and digital multimedia programming to Ukraine, Russia, and other countries, and launched a multimedia and multilingual VOA opinion magazine, New Europe Review, recruiting for its International Advisory Board former Czech President Vaclav Havel and former U.S. National Security Advisor Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. In 2005, he was named Acting Associate Director of VOA. While working for VOA, and as an employee of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), he received multiple awards, including the Employee of the Year Award and commendations from VOA Directors, both Democrats and Republicans. He retired from VOA in 2006, going on to found Free Media Online, an NGO covering international broadcasting and media freedom, and co-founded the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting, a non-profit supporting media outreach to countries suffering from censorship and human rights violations. His articles on U.S. international broadcasting have been published in The Hill, American Diplomacy Journal, National Review, The Washington Times, Digital Journal, and The Washington Examiner. His views on media have been quoted by CNN, NBC, FOX, NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He is the author of a book published in English and Polish about feminism and Pope John Paul II. Lipien earned a B.A. in International Relations with distinction from George Washington University. He is a Phi Beta Kappa member.
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![Ted Lipien with his mentor, anti-Nazi underground Home Army radio coder in German-occupied Poland, journalist Zofia Korbońska, at the Voice of America Polish Service in Washington, DC, circa 1974.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Zofia-Korbonska-i-Tadeusz-Lipien-Glos-Ameryki-Waszyngton-wrzesien-1974-1024x727.png)
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![Outstanding Employee of the Year Award for Voice of America Polish Service chief, Tadeusz A. Lipien, 1989.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tadeusz-A-Lipien-Voice-of-America-Outstanding-Employee-of-The-Year-Award-1989-954x1024.jpg)
![Meritorious Honor Award for Tadeusz Lipien, 1993.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tadeusz-Lipien-Meritorious-Honor-Award-1993-782x1024.jpg)
![Note to Ted Lipien from Voice of America Director Richard Carlson, 1990.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Voice-of-America-Director-Richard-Carlson-to-VOA-Polish-Service-Chief-Ted-Lipien-1990-635x1024.jpg)
![Note from Voice of America Director Evelyn Lieberman to Ted Lipien, 1997.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Note-from-Voice-of-America-Director-Evelyn-Lieberman-to-Ted-Lipien-1997-786x1024.jpg)
![Voice of America Director Evelyn S. Lieberman (1997-1999). VOA Photo.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VOA-Director-Evelyn-S-Lieberman-1997-1999.jpeg)
![Ted Lipien receiving Career Achievement Award at his retirement party in 2006 from Voice of America Director David Jackson.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tadeusz-A-Lipien-Voice-of-America-Career-Achievement-Award-with-VOA-Director-David-Jackson-2006-1024x728.jpg)
![Ted Lipien in Bucharest in the 1990s.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Ted-Lipien-in-Bucharest-724x1024.jpg)
![Voice of America Director Kenneth Y. Tomlinson and VOA Polish Service chief Ted Lipien with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ted_lipien_with_pope_john_paul_ii-816x1024.jpg)
![Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman Ken Tomlinson's October 25, 2002 letter to Tadeusz Lipien, Affiliate Relations Representative, Director of Regional Office–Prague, Office of Marketing and Program Placement. Congratulations for becoming a BBG Gold Medalist.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ken-Tomlinson-BBG-Chair-Letter-to-Tadeusz-Lipien-Oct-25-2002-791x1024.jpg)
![Note from Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman and Former Voice of America Director Kenneth Y. Tomlinson to Ted Lipien after his appointment as VOA European (later Eurasia) Division in 2003.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Note-from-Ken-Tomlinson-785x1024-1.png)
![VOA Polish Service chief Ted Lipien interviewing Vice President George H.W. Bush, September 24, 1987.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Vice-Prezydent-George-H.W.-Bush-i-Tadeusz-Lipien-24-wrzesien-1987-fotografia-Bialego-Domu-1024x837.jpg)
![Ted Lipien, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President, December 2020-January 2021.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/D6BC0E97-8F3C-4631-977A-D92594CD0879.jpeg)
![Former Broadcasting Board of Governors member, journalist and radio broadcaster Blanquita Cullum, to Ted Lipien, May 25, 2021.](https://www.tedlipien.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Former-BBG-Governor-Blanquita-Cullum-to-Ted-Lipien-May-25-2021-1024x568.jpg)
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