National Public Radio chief executive Delano E. Lewis announced yesterday he will resign in August for personal reasons, saying he plans to spend more time with his family, as well as speaking, teaching and writing a book.
The announcement surprised the public broadcasting community and the more than 500 stations nationwide that belong to NPR. But Lewis, who took the job in 1994, said he always planned to spend just three to five years in the position.
"I took stock of my life, and realized that I'd be 60 in November, and after 37 years of full-time work . . . I'd really like to spend time with family, with friends and just enjoying life," he said at a news conference yesterday.
In the past, political analysts have mentioned Lewis as a possible candidate for D.C. mayor. Yesterday, he said he has no plans to seek public office.
Ervin S. Duggan, president of Public Broadcasting Service, NPR's counterpart in television, yesterday called Lewis a "terrific leader" and "a true champion of our enterprise."
He said Lewis, who was chief executive of C&P Telephone Co. of the District before joining NPR, played a key role in a largely successful campaign three years ago to persuade Congress to preserve federal funding for public broadcasting.
But some industry observers said Lewis's decision to leave may have been influenced by frustration with the structure of NPR, which must balance the disparate interests of hundreds of independently minded radio stations across the country.
They also said Lewis was unable to generate the huge cash infusions from corporate alliances that he had hoped for early in his tenure at NPR. Instead, Lewis largely raised money company through more conventional means, such as fund-raising dinners and functions in various cities.
"They have built up an endowment of about $6 million, and they've done that with hard work," said Steve Behrens, editor of Current Newspaper, a trade publication for the public broadcasting industry. But the major business deals Lewis had predicted never materialized, and "I think that's been a disappointment," he said.
Lewis denied at the news conference yesterday that his decision stemmed from frustration or the difficulty of leveraging the NPR brand into cash. He said the job has been "a wonderful professional experience" and his reasons for leaving are entirely personal.
He said he and his wife planned to work on a "motivational" book that would draw on his life and experiences.
Lewis also said his departure was unrelated to a decision last month by a congressional committee to look into the pay of top NPR and PBS executives. Their salaries are legally capped at $148,400, equivalent to the salary of a Cabinet officer, but for the past two years, Lewis and several other public broadcasting managers have received compensation that exceeded that cap as a result of bonuses.
"I didn't come here to make money, I came here to make a difference," Lewis said. But he added that the salary cap, which was established 30 years ago, is "outmoded" and should be reviewed because it limits the organization's ability to attract top-notch management.
F. Kim Hodgson, chairman of NPR's board, said the company would begin searching for a replacement for Lewis soon, beginning with contacts with executive search firms. Hodgson praised the management team that Lewis has assembled, calling it the best in NPR's history. He said he hopes to name a successor by November.
Behrens of Current Newspaper said NPR member stations probably would like to have a leader who is less corporate and more tuned in to the organization's news and entertainment operations. Though Lewis oversaw the expansion of two of NPR's most popular shows, "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," he is best known for bringing a more corporate outlook to the organization, which among its employees was not always welcome, Behrens said.
"He was always calling it The Company,' and I was always calling it Our Cosa Nostra,' " said Ruth Seymour, general manager of radio station KCRW in Los Angeles. ". . . We sort of said, We're not The Company.' "
Though Seymour praised Lewis's "businesslike sensibility," she said it is the programming that makes her, and others at NPR, tick.
"I think that if you bring someone from the phone company into the entertainment business, it's hard for them to understand that you don't do great programs through committee," she said. CAPTION: DELANO E. LEWIS