Date: Oct 29, 2009

Hofstra Radio Alumni Association Selects First Radio Hall of Fame

Induction to Coincide with 50th Anniversary Celebration

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY - Seventeen prominent members of the radio industry will be the first inductees into the Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame, Hofstra Radio Alumni Association President Marc Wiener announced today.

“The Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame was created to highlight and celebrate the unprecedented, and until now unheralded number of professional accomplishments our radio alumni have had in the past fifty years, both in and out of the worldwide media business,” says Wiener.  

The first class of inductees will be formally recognized on November 7, 2009 at a gala celebrating 50 years of radio broadcasting at Hofstra University.  

The 17 inductees include:

Todd Ant, ’81 started sports broadcasting at Hofstra and hasn’t stopped since.  In nearly 30 years in the New York market he has worked at WCBS Newsradio 88, CBS Radio Network, 1010 WINS-AM and Metro Networks.  He is currently with ABC Sports Radio Network and is the American Sports Correspondent for BBC Radio, UK.  

Garry Armstrong, ’66 was a reporter on Boston TV for over 30 years, and is the recipient of three Emmy awards, a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Silver Circle Award for Life Achievement, and the Kauff Lifetime Achievement award.

Joe Barone, ’85 is owner of the award winning agency, Bar 1 Productions in New York, producing music, video and radio advertising.  Clients include Disney, HBO, Audi, Dell, Oxygen, Denny’s, FedEx and Saatchi among many others.  

Alan Colmes, ’71 is a nationally recognized television and radio host, as well as the author of the 2003 book Red, White and Liberal: How Left is Right and Right is Wrong. From 1996 to 2009 he co-hosted the nightly political-debate TV show Hannity and Colmes on the Fox News Channel and currently hosts the nationally syndicated program The Alan Colmes Show on Fox News radio.

John DeBella, ’72 became famous as part of Phildelphia’s WMMR-FM’s Morning Zoo. Now he is the morning host at WMGK-FM, a highly rated station in the area.  Before arriving in Philadelphia, DeBella worked at WLIR-FM in the early 1980’s, hosting the DeBella Travesty and helped to introduce the Dare to be Different new wave format.

Steven Epstein, ’73 was the long-time Executive Producer of Classical Music at Sony Classic.  Over his 30 years as a producer he has worked with such artists as Yo Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Placido Domingo, Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern and has won 13 Grammys.  

Lisa Glasberg, ’77 aka Lisa G, is currently a news correspondent on the Howard Stern show on Sirius Satellite radio.  In the 1990’s, Lisa helped Dr. Dre and Ed Lover make WQHT-FM (Hot 97) a New York City institution, which earned her a prestigious Billboard’s “Personality of the Year Award.”  She reunited with the duo in 2001 to successfully launch WWPR-FM (Power 105.1).  In 2003, she received a “Gracie Allen Award” for best local radio host.

Lee Harris began broadcasting at the age of 13 by voicing Schoolscope reports for WGBB-FM and worked at WVHC-FM at Hofstra.   In 1995 he became the “top of the hour” anchor for morning drive on 1010 WINS-AM and was honored as Best Newscaster at the 2000 New York Achievement in Radio Awards.  Harris is also President of Harris Media, a website and development application company that he co-founded in 1996.

Michael Harrison, ’71 is a special media correspondent for Talk Radio News Service and editor and publisher of TALKERS magazine, the leading trade publication for the talk radio and television industries. His 40 years in radio includes on-air work at WLIR-FM, WNEW-FM, and WCBS-FM and a talk show at KMET-FM as well as management positions as station manager, program director, and station owner.

Jim Helfgott, ’79 began his management career as Station Manager for WVHC-FM in the late 1970’s.  Currently based in Budapest, Hungary, he is the Managing Director (Europe) for Sand Cherry Associates which serves the broadband industry and currently serves as Co-Chairperson at CTAM Europe, the Cable Marketing Association for Europe.  

Ed Ingles’ association with WRHU-FM is the reverse of most:  he came to WRHU-FM after a successful career in radio that included 30 years with WCBS, 24 of those years as the Sports Director and morning drive time sports anchor at WCBS News Radio 88.  He has reported from 11 Olympics and 35 Masters Golf Tournaments.  In his 11 years as Professional in Residence at WRHU, Ingles has mentored countless students, run successful summer sports camps and sportscasting institutes for adults and earned a FOLIO award.

Dan Ingram, ’56 is the iconic top-40 Disc Jockey and one of the most illustrious alumni of the Hofstra radio station, dating back to when the call letters were WHCH-FM.  This Oceanside native’s name was synonymous with music radio WABC-AM where he was on the air for 21 years.  Ingram was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007, received the New York Achievement in Radio Award in 2005, and was honored by Hofstra University with the Estabrook Alumni Award.

Charlie Kaye, the executive producer of CBS Radio News, traces his news radio roots back to 1965 when he was news director at Hofstra’s radio station.   Kaye currently oversees CBS News-on-the-hour broadcasts on the CBS Radio Network and other CBS News radio programming.

Jeffrey C. Kraus ’61 has a name that to many people is practically synonymous with the Hofstra radio station.  Starting as a student with WHCH-FM, he signed WVHC-FM on the air for the first time on
June 9, 1959.  Decades as general manager followed, where he oversaw everything from the change in the station’s call letters to WRHU-FM, to upgraded and improved studios and broadcast facilities.  For the Hofstra Communications Department, and later School of Communication, Mr. Kraus designed courses and the radio major, along with broadcast and production studios. Mr. Kraus served as a teacher, mentor and inspiration to the hundreds of students who worked with him at the Hofstra radio station.

Dick Maitland, ’63 is an award winning Foley artist and sound effects engineer who has worked on shows ranging from Sesame Street and the Muppets to the annual Thanksgiving Day parade, the Grammy Awards and the celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, We Are One, for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.  

Darrin Smith is the Vice President of Music Operations and weekend host of 1st Wave for Sirius Satellite Radio in New York. In 2000 he became Program Director and on-air host for WTHG-FM, an alternative station in New Jersey and eventually simultaneously took on the same roles at two of the company’s other stations before moving to Sirius in 2004.

Marc Wiener, ’76 has book-ended his broadcasting career with WVHC-FM and WRHU-FM.  As a Hofstra student in the late 60’s, Wiener served as Station Manager and Music Director.  He worked through the 1970’s into the 1980’s as Assistant Chief Engineer and Production Director for WCBS-FM.  After retiring from WCBS-FM, Wiener returned to Hofstra radio where he mentors students, provides technical assistance and helps produce the award winning Community Spotlight show.  Wiener is currently the president of the Hofstra Radio Alumni Association.

For more information about Radio Hofstra University’s 50th anniversary, send an email to wrhu.org@gmail.com or call (516) 463-5109.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 150 undergraduate and more than 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences; business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.

Related Link: WRHU