Personality Test: Deborah L. Acklin
Deborah L. Acklin is president and CEO of WQED Multimedia, the nation's first community-owned public-media company, known as “Mister Rogers' station.” Acklin has served in multiple executive roles within the public-television industry and commercial broadcasting. At WQED, she has managed the operations, strategies and fundraising for four television channels, three radio signals, an interactive Web-based learning channel and an education department. Her work has been honored with many awards, including a national Emmy, as well as two consecutive Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards for station excellence. Acklin also helped launch the first public-television channel in Bermuda (CTV). Acklin holds a bachelor of arts degree from Duquesne University and completed the advanced-management program at Harvard Business School.
The star who would play me in the movie version of my life:
Sigourney Weaver
Childhood hero:
Jane Goodall
Pick one:
A. Go-Gos
B. Goo Goo Dolls
C. Lady Gaga
D. Yo Gabba Gabba
The Go-Gos! An all-female band with a great drummer and good lyrics. They were underrated.
The superpower I wish I had in real life:
I wish I could fly. Or had the ability to mind-meld. Thank you, Mister Spock!
I can't live without my iPod, cellphone, DVR or laptop:
If I had to, I could live without all of them. I like to talk to people face to face, watch TV live and use paper.
My favorite reality show:
Trying to balance WQED's annual budget — it has drama, tears, laughter, insanity and some wild characters!
Favorite brunch food:
Smoked salmon
Favorite guilty pleasure:
All of my pleasures are guilty, and all of the guilt is pleasurable! I'm Roman Catholic, after all.
Favorite lunchtime spot:
My desk
Something I would do over if I could:
High school — I wish I had read more of the classics.
App I wish I could invent:
The “Please Bring Me Glass of Red Wine!” app
I'm deathly afraid of:
Running out of red wine — see above. I'm Italian, after all.
My favorite Pittsburgh pizza:
Mineo's in Squirrel Hill
TV marathon I could watch all day:
“The Sopranos” — the first few seasons have some amazing directing and surreal flashbacks and dream sequences
My favorite thing about Pittsburgh:
It's the right size for me — and the people are generous and friendly.
Pick one:
A. Pirates
B. Penguins
C. Steelers
D. Other
E. I hate sports
Go Stillers! I miss Myron Cope!
My favorite Pittsburgh athlete:
Troy Polamalu — I swear he can fly!
Top thing on my “bucket list” to do before I'm gone:
Travel to more than 100 countries — 88 to go
In five years, I'd like to:
Attend the Pirates' fourth-straight World Series championship parade Downtown.
My favorite website:
Star I'd like to dance with on “Dancing With the Stars”:
Savion Glover — an amazing tap dancer. I'd be better at tap than at salsa or quickstep.
Celebrity crush:
Bo, the Obamas' dog
My quirkiest inherited trait:
Being hyper-aware of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes — thanks, Mom!
Exercise I hate most:
Planks
Best mistake I've ever made:
Adopting a few too many animals at one time: Horse, Great Dane, three cats and two goldfish! But I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
My favorite sandwich, plus fixings:
Caprese Panini with pesto — yum!
One word my mother would use to describe me:
Precocious
The oldest thing in my refrigerator:
The box of baking soda
When I was 10, I wanted to be:
A veterinarian
The most-famous person I ever became friends with:
Patti Burns, the closest thing to royalty that Pittsburgh ever had. I miss her to this day.
Three people I'd love to have dinner with:
All of my grandparents — they died before I was born — the Dalai Lama, Linda Ellerbee
If I was auditioning for “American Idol,” my song would be:
“Close To You” by the Carpenters
The first band I saw in concert:
Wild Cherry with the Average White Band at the Civic Arena in 1977
The best concert I've ever seen:
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's concert for Pope John Paul II in Vatican City
Favorite Pittsburgh-area landmark:
The exit of the Fort Pitt Tunnels when the city hits you in the face
Saturday mornings, you'll find me:
Walking the dogs in Frick Park and at the Strip
Best new gadget I've tried recently:
An editing app on the iPad — amazing what you can do for $12.99
The person I'm most often mistaken for:
Someone who likes to be called “Debbie.” I don't!
The worst advice I ever received:
Don't take accounting — you'll never need it.
In high school, I was:
Friends with the cool kids and friends with the nerds
My most-treasured fashion accessory:
My Duquesne University class ring — it was my dad's, circa 1948
What you'll always find in my glove compartment:
Keys to the kayak roof rack
My most-embarrassing junk food:
Chocolate-covered almonds from Costco — danger!
If I wasn't president and CEO of WQED Multimedia, I'd be:
Producing television for WQED
The last book I read:
Rick Steves' travel guide to Germany
Movie I could watch every time it appears on cable:
“The Quiet Man”
My most-memorable fashion mistake:
A few curly perms in the '80s
If I could live my life as someone else, it would be:
As a bodhisattva
My childhood nickname:
My dad called me “Little Bee.” That's what “Deborah” means in Hebrew.
Life would be better without:
Mosquitos
My first job:
Baby sitting, of course. Then working in a fast-food fish-and-seafood restaurant — stinky!
My worst job:
See above
My favorite cable channel:
All cable channels are awful and out to exploit audiences, but I couldn‘t live without “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central
If I could tour with any two bands, they would be:
Heart and The Pretenders
I never travel without my:
Eyes and heart open
People would be surprised to know that I:
Possess a freakishly accurate ability to identify rare animal species and dog breeds
