Douglas J. Bennet, who took over National Public Radio when it faced an uncertain future and spearheaded a decade of growth, died on Sunday at his home in Essex, Conn. He was 79.

The cause was complications of a fall sustained five years ago, his family said.

In a wide-ranging career, Mr. Bennet also led Wesleyan University in Connecticut for 12 years and served in various political and government positions. He was known for bringing financial and organizational stability to whatever institution he took on, a skill honed as an assistant to political figures like Chester Bowles, a diplomat and a former governor and congressman; and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.

When Mr. Bennet took the helm at NPR in 1983, during the fiscally conservative administration of President Ronald Reagan, the organization was in financial distress. Mr. Bennet made structural changes that reversed the decline.

“He restored NPR’s financial stability and directed its further growth,” Ralph Engelman wrote in “Public Radio and Television in America: A Political History” (1996).