Leadership Bios
Sloan D. Gibson, USO President and CEO
Sloan D. Gibson was elected by the USO Board of Governors to become the 22nd president of the USO in September 2008.
Prior to joining the USO, Sloan spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Birmingham, Ala. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorporation, a New York Stock Exchange traded corporation, where he served as vice chairman and chief financial officer. During his tenure as CFO, AmSouth was added to the S&P 500. Sloan also has a long history of service and leadership with a variety of nonprofit organizations. In 2002 he chaired the United Way campaign in Central Alabama, which raised more than $30 million.
Sloan is a 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned both Airborne and Ranger qualifications and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He earned a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Gary E. Knell, Sesame Workshop President and CEO
Gary Knell is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sesame Workshop. Mr. Knell leads the nonprofit educational organization in its mission to create innovative, engaging content that maximizes the educational power of all media to help children reach their highest potential. He has been instrumental in focusing the organization on Sesame Street's global mission, including groundbreaking co-productions in South Africa, India, Northern Ireland, and Egypt. He also helped found PBS Kids Sprout, a 24-hour domestic cable channel in the U.S.
Previously, Mr. Knell was Managing Director of Manager Media International, a print and multimedia publishing company based in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. In this capacity, he oversaw the development of the monthly business magazine Asia Inc., the daily Asian-based newspaper Asia Times, and several trade publications.
He also has served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at WNET/Channel 13 in New York, was Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committees, and worked in the California State Legislature and Governor's Office.
Mr. Knell is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, serves as a Director of executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles, is on the Board of Governors of the National Geographic Education Foundation and is a Board Member of AARP Services, Inc, the Jacob Burns Film Center and Save the Children. He is also an advisor to WFUV, public radio at Fordham University, the Annenberg School of Communications at USC, and Common Sense Media. He is a frequent spokesperson in the media, appearing in numerous venues, including CNN, Fox News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, and CNBC.
Mr. Knell has been a Gordon Grand Fellow at Yale University, and a guest lecturer at Harvard University, Duke University, and Carnegie Mellon University. He has served as the commencement speaker at UCLA and the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Knell holds a BA in Political Science and Journalism from the University of California at Los Angeles and a JD from Loyola University School of Law.