[4] KQED was organized and created by veteran broadcast journalists James Day and Jonathan Rice on June 1, 1953, and first went on air April 5, 1954.

It was the sixth public broadcasting station in the United States, debuting shortly after WQED in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The station's call letters, Q.E.D., are taken from the Latin phrase, quod erat demonstrandum, commonly used in mathematics.

Its transmitter is located on Sutro Tower, and has studios based in San Francisco's Mission District.

KQED-FM (88.5) is an NPR-member radio station owned by KQED, Inc. in San Francisco, California.