Dr. Ralph Jennings

WFUV's General Manager keeps a steady hand on the reins of this New York public radio institution.

A man with a mission

Ralph Jennings

Under the stewardship of General Manager Dr. Ralph Jennings, WFUV has become recognized as an acclaimed and successful radio station, while still preserving its roots as a part of the Fordham University community. Under his management, the station has grown from a weekly audience of approximately 80,000 to over 300,000, with more than 22,000 members. The station's operating budget has also grown tenfold, from $300,000 to over $3.5 million annually, and the physical plant has been updated to include state-of-the-art studio facilities.

Since taking over in 1985, Dr. Jennings has overseen the conversion of WFUV from a student-run station to one that successfully mixes a professional staff of 27 with over 60 paid interns. This allows Fordham students to gain invaluable education in broadcasting, while creating a resource that serves the area's diverse community. Jennings points to the many WFUV alumni who have found success working in broadcasting and the community support for the station's programming among his most proud accomplishments.

"I was able to listen to the world," says Jennings of the day when his uncle gave him his first short wave radio as a child in the late 1940's, and he has been hooked ever since. While still a high school student in Connecticut he worked as a broadcast engineer, and went on to become Station Manager during his college years in Wooster, Ohio.

After college, Jennings signed on as Operations Manager at WRVR in New York, and while pursuing his doctorate in communications at NYU, he began to work at the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ. During his stay there from 1968 through 1979, he monitored TV stations nationwide, and helped communities challenge the licenses of stations discriminating against minorities and women. From 1980 to 1990, Jennings served as Communications Policy Advisor for the United States Catholic Conference.

Jennings is currently chair of Eastern Public Radio, an organization of major public radio stations in the northeast. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, a development director, and their two teenage children.

Write to Ralph Jennings