April 9, 2003 National Geographic Channel President Laureen Ong To Deliver Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Keynote Address at the Library of Congress

Laureen Ong, National Geographic Channel president, will deliver the 2003 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month keynote address at the Library of Congress at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 5, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.

Born in New York City and raised in Bergen County, N.J., Laureen Ong has had more than 25 years of experience in television programming. She began her career as traffic manager at TVS Television Network, working on NCAA Basketball, WFL Football and NASL Soccer. In 1982, she helped launch SportsVision in Chicago, one of the first regional sports networks in the country. While spearheading the new network's programming and marketing efforts, she served as executive producer and vice president of broadcasting for the Chicago White Sox.

Prior to becoming president of the National Geographic Channel in 2000, Ong served for two years as vice president and general manager of WTTG in Washington, D.C., an affiliate of the Fox Channel. She came to WTTG from KSAZ-TV, the Fox-owned station in Phoenix, where as vice president and general manager under the ownership of New World Communications, she supervised the transition from a CBS affiliation to a Fox owned-and-operated station. Before joining Fox, Ong served as assistant general manager for Prism and SportsChannel in Philadelphia.