LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The American Film Institute Board of Trustees Thursday presented Jack Valenti the AFI Charlton Heston Award in Los Angeles.
Valenti is a founding board member of the AFI and the chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America.
The AFI Charlton Heston Award, established last year to acknowledge individuals who have made distinguished contributions to both the film and television communities and to the American Film Institute, was presented to Valenti at a private luncheon with the AFI Board of Trustees.
Valenti was Special Advisor to President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 when Johnson announced during an event in the White House Rose Garden that an American Film Institute would be created. Two years later, Valenti became one of the institute's 22 founding trustees. Valenti has worked for the AFI for 37 years.
