Larry Unger is the definition of a local guy, having grown up in Pimlico and spent the last 50 years in Owings Mills.
Unger is set to retire at the end of June after 28 years at Maryland Public Television, serving as president and CEO for the last 14 years.
Unger came into public television after three decades of work in the finance world and has overseen the transformation of MPT as it has expanded its programs and reach over the decades.
Outside of his work, Unger is an involved member of the Baltimore Jewish community and has close relationships with the JCC of Greater Baltimore.
He’s also a former board member of Jewish National Fund and serves on the advisory board at the Baltimore Hebrew Institute.
Unger is excited for his upcoming retirement and to have free time to spend with his family and to travel.
Can you tell me how you got your start at MPT?
I had actually spent almost 30 years in financial services. We had sold the institution that I had been with and I was kind of wondering what to do next. And I actually came to MPT when there was a new CEO and I was hired for a 90-day consulting job. And 28 years later,
I’m still here.
Can you tell me about your upbringing?
The first 12 years of my life I spent in Pimlico; the house was about five doors down from the racetrack. And then when I was 12, we moved to Randallstown, kind of the typical progression. And then after, I moved to Owings Mills. I’ve pretty much been in the house in Owings Mills for almost 50 years. Wow. That makes me old.
Can you tell me what you do on a day-to-day basis?
I will have been in this job as president and CEO for 14 years, and I have to say it was a big transition for me, coming out of a for-profit world into what’s
really a nonprofit world.
But I must say, I finally figured it out. And I love what we do here. I really believe that we make our community a better place. And while it’s Maryland Public Television, we do a lot more than just television, and it really is just about making this a better place.
Can you talk to me about your educational background and your career progression prior to MPT?
Well, I’m local and, of course, I went to the University of Baltimore and I had a bachelor’s degree in finance. I also attended a graduate banking school, and I spent about 28 years in financial services, mostly in the national leasing business, and then towards the end, I actually was in the banking business with the Bank of Baltimore.
What is it that you do as president and CEO?
Well, fortunately for me, we just do so many different things here. Obviously, there’s [the] on-air portion and we talk about what goes on air and when it goes on air. And as you’re probably aware, when I first got here, we had one channel. We now have four. Plus we have to pay attention to what’s going on on the internet and our site. We now stream everything. All those things are different.
We also have a large education department. One of the things I’m proud of [is that] they’ve begun what we’re calling a Center for Media Literacy. [Media literacy] is a big problem, or at least most people think it’s a big problem today, [determining] what’s real and what’s not. We have seniors that are getting scammed. We have children that don’t quite know what to believe when they listen to anything.
So I’m pretty excited about that as well. And that education group also trains daycare workers. They also provide training for teachers. So there’s a lot that goes on here, frankly, that the general public I don’t think knows about.
What have you seen in your time working with MPT as the industry has evolved?
There have been huge changes. There’s no question about it. When I got here, we were all analog, and the transition to digital was huge. And because we are the only broadcaster that gets to every part of Maryland, we actually have six towers where most television stations have one.
So it was a very expensive transition for us to go digital. Streaming wasn’t even thought of when I came here. The business has changed dramatically. And if you take it all the way back to when I was a child, there were three stations, and they went off the air, usually at midnight. Now it’s 24/7 and there’s multiple ways to get that content.
Can you tell me about your Baltimore Jewish connections?
I was both bar mitzvahed and married at Beth Israel, which still exists today. I was in (the) JCC last night for the Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame. And we try to stay involved in that.
What does your relationship to the Jewish community mean to you?
Well, we’re certainly proud of our heritage. One of my good friends and neighbors is (JCC of Greater Baltimore CEO) Barak Hermann. So, we’ve been very close to the JCC, and actually we enjoy a terrific relationship between the two organizations, the JCC and MPT.
What is that relationship like?
Sometimes we will promote what the JCC is doing, including their big bash during the summer. We kind of help them with that. A lot of times we will screen content in their Gordon Center, and that works out great. They have a terrific place over there, and both Barak and I have served and actually chaired the Owings Mills corporate roundtable.
I would love to hear about some of the things you’re looking forward to in retirement.
Well, it will be something new for me, no question about that. But I do like to travel, and we’ll be able to do a little bit more of that. I can spend some time with my grandchildren. I have five grandchildren, and we’re all very close, and they’re all right here in Maryland, and I’m looking forward to that and maybe doing a little more reading for pleasure.
