African American becomes President of Universal Television

chibumga izuzu

June 6, 2016 5:18 PM

Pearlena Igbokwe has become the first African American president of a major TV studio.

Pearlena Igbokwe

In June 2016,

Igbokwe replaces Bela Bajaria, who departed Universal Television as President, after five years.

Before her appointment, she was Executive Vice President, Drama Development for NBC Entertainment. Prior to that, Igbokwe was Executive Vice President, Drama Programming for NBC Entertainment.

Prior to that, she was the Executive Vice President, Drama Development, and oversaw the development of all NBC dramas.

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Igbokwe came to NBC from Showtime, where she oversaw every season of the network's most popular hit series ever "Dexter."

She also developed the pilot to the new Showtime series "Masters of Sex," which stars Michael Sheen.

Igbokwe was also a huge part of the five-season run of the hit Showtime series "Soul Food," which won the NAACP Image Award winner for Best Drama Series.

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She kicked off her career at Showtime as Manager of Direct Response, Television Marketing. She worked with the network for seven years.

Pearlena Igbokwe was born in Nigeria. She moved to the United States with her parents at the age of six. She graduated from Yale University, and has an MBA from Columbia University’s business school.

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