Dorothy Green Alcorn

Dorothy Green Alcorn is an Electronic Media and High Concept Producer who resides in Reston, Virginia. In 2016, she married NASA physicist and inventor, George Edward Alcorn.

Dorothy began her broadcasting career at Connecticut Public Television in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the first female television engineer hired at CBS owned, WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. In 1980 she moved to Washington, D.C. to help train staff and students in broadcast operations for the start-up of Howard University's WHUT-TV (formally WHMM-TV.) In 1981 Ms. Green Alcorn joined the ABC Washington News Bureau as a Technical Manager of Broadcast Operations and Engineering for prime-time programs: “Nightline”, “World News Tonight”, “Good Morning America” and “This Week with David Brinkley.”

Producing radio programming since 1988, Dorothy's radio programming credits include the documentary “King Stories” (1989)which highlights aspects of Martin Luther King, Jr’s childhood and events surrounding his death; “Unraveling the Enigma: A Discussion with Ralph David Abernathy” (1990)—a candid interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's best friend and companion throughout the Civil Rights Movement; “Another Perspective” (1991)—a 22 part series presenting an alternative view of the first Gulf War; “Radio Magazine: A Soundscape of Contemporary Black America” (1991)—2-host magazine format Black History Month special focusing on significant issues broadly based in African American culture; and “Evolution of the Jazz Orchestra” (1992) — Radio Smithsonian 2 hour special featuring the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, aired on NPR. In 1995 Dorothy was awarded the coveted George Foster Peabody Award as the editor for National Public Radio's 26-part series, “Wynton Marsalis: Making the Music.”

Ms. Green is the founding producer of the Smithsonian Jazz Mastersworks Orchestra—an 18 piece repertory orchestra in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History (NMAH). For five consecutive years, she produced NMAH’s “Holiday Celebration”—a multicultural family festival. Dorothy has directed summer camps for The Smithsonian Associates (SITES) and the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS). Ms. Green produced and managed numerous public programs, special events, conferences, and exhibitions openings at the Smithsonian, over a twenty-three year period. During her last tenure at the National Museum of American History, she was the Project Manager for the Warner Bros. Theater Project where she produced the Classic Film Festivals, AFI Film Festival, and the Environmental Film Festival. She also served as the point person for Accessibility in film and public programs at the NMAH.

Dorothy held the position of Director of Public Programs and Education at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and was the editor for their magazine “DC LIVE!”

Dorothy is a recipient of the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities Grant (1987) and is listed in The Marquis Who's Who of American Women (1985) and Who's Who Among Black Americans (1985).

SELECTED PRESS REFERENCES
Wynton Marsalis: Skain's Domain A Biography, Leslie Bourse, Schirmer Books, 1999, page 211
Journal Of The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society An Interview with Ralph David Abernathy vol.12, numbers 3 and 4 fall/winter 1991
New York Times Sunday Magazine Featured in the cover story, After Liberation, April 30, 1978
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND LICENSES
Former DC Superior Court Appointed Advocate for Abused and Neglected Children
Former member, Leadership Greater Washington
Life-time Member, American Federation of Musicians Local 161-710
Women in Film and Video Board of Directors (1989-90, Washington, DC)
First Class Radiotelephone Operator License #P1-2-34193
General Radiotelephone Operator License #PG-3-10479