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{{short description|American executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jean Firstenberg
| image = Jean Picker Firstenberg (cropped).png
| caption =
| birth_name = Jean Picker Firstenberg
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = [[Boston University]] (BA)
| occupation = President and CEO of the American Film Institute
| years_active =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| website =
}}
'''Jean Picker Firstenberg''' is an American who served as the President and CEO of the [[American Film Institute]] from 1980<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jun-09-et-afi9-story.html|title=That's a wrap for AFI's director|date=June 9, 2006|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> through 2007. She was the Institute's second CEO and the only female to have held that title.<ref name=":0"/> At the time of her appointment, she was an executive at the Markle Foundation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/11/27/new-chief-at-afi/754d657a-1a67-429c-a144-ff45370bc364/|title=New Chief At AFI|first=Gary|last=Arnold|date=November 27, 1979|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Firstenberg is the daughter of [[Eugene Picker]], former president of [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's movie theaters]], and sister of [[David V. Picker]], former head of production for [[United Artists]].<ref name=":2"/>

==Education==
Firstenberg graduated from Boston University's College of Communications.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=https://trusted.bu.edu/s/1759/2-bu/19/1col.aspx?sid=1759&gid=2&pgid=5201&cid=9339&ecid=9339&crid=0&calpgid=525&calcid=1283|title=Telling a Story: Past, Present, and Future|website=trusted.bu.edu}}</ref>

==Career==

Before AFI, Firstenberg worked as a program officer at the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation in New York City. She also served as director of Princeton University's publications office.<ref name=":2"/> She also chaired the University of Georgia's Peabody Awards Committee. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Women's Sports Foundation.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/meet-the-board-of-trustees/Pages/firstenberg.aspx|title=Jean Picker Firstenberg | CSU }}</ref>

Firstenberg served as president and CEO of the American Film Institute from 1980 to 2007.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jun-09-et-afi9-story.html|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title=That's a wrap for AFI's director |date=9 June 2006 }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33275367-becoming-afi|title=Becoming AFI|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref> Upon her retirement from AFI, Firstenberg received an AFI Life Achievement Award for service to the institute<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.no/detail/news-photo/actor-kirk-douglas-gives-an-award-to-afi-president-and-ceo-news-photo/77193758|title=Actor Kirk Douglas gives an award to AFI President and CEO Jean...|website=Getty Images|date=5 October 2007 }}</ref> and was named president emerita and a lifetime trustee. During her years at AFI she saw the institute gaining the campus of [[Immaculate Heart College]] in Los Angeles and to the [[AFI Conservatory]] being accredited by both the [[National Association of Schools of Art and Design]] and the Accrediting Committee of Senior Colleges and Universities of the [[Western Association of Schools and Colleges]]; to AFI's embrace of digital technology, and to the opening of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/firstenberg-ends-productive-afi-run-1117973189/|title=Firstenberg ends productive AFI run|first1=Robert|last1=Hofler|date=October 2, 2007}}</ref>

She also saw the AFI move away from the film preservation business,<ref name=":1"/> and in 2002, the institute attempted to enter the market for pre-Oscar awards ceremonies and found their televised show poorly attended, lacking in stars and discontinued due to low ratings.<ref name=":1"/> Firstenberg saw the relaunch of the [[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] and the launch of the AFI [[Filmex|Los Angeles International Film Festival]].<ref name=":1"/>

Firstenberg is a member of the California State University Board of Trustees <ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2016/03/03/news19333/index.html|title=Governor Brown Announces Appointments | Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.|website=www.ca.gov}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2018/03/05/governor-brown-announces-appointments-22/index.html|title=Governor Brown Announces Appointments | Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.|website=www.ca.gov}}</ref>

==Books==

Firstenberg has been involved with two books about the AFI. In 2017, ''BECOMING AFI: 50 Years Inside the American Film Institute'', written with James Hindman, was published. The book covers the history of the AFI and how it evolved from 1965 to the present.<ref name=":3"/> In 2014, she edited ''THE AFI CONSERVATORY: Toni Vellani on the Practice of Filmmaking'' compiled by Gary Winick, AFI Class of 1986.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|name=Jean Picker Firstenberg|id=0278734}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firstenberg, Jean}}
[[Category:Mount Holyoke College alumni]]
[[Category:Boston University College of Communication alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women nonprofit executives]]
[[Category:American women chief executives]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Film Institute]]

Jean Firstenberg - Revision history

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