Richard Heffner

Who was Richard Heffner?

Richard Douglas Heffner was the creator and host of The Open Mind, a public affairs television show first broadcast in 1956. He was a University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers University and also taught an honors seminar at New York University. He was the author of A Documentary History of the United States, a verbatim anthology of important public documents in American history, among them the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Heffner collaborated with Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel on the publication of Conversations With Elie Wiesel, released by Schochen books in 2001.

A protégé of Edward R. Murrow, Heffner helped establish what is now WNET in New York City and was its first general manager, from 1961–63. From 1974–94 Heffner was chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Heffner earned his BA and MA degrees in history from Columbia University. He taught two courses at Rutgers University.