I grew up with WKSU. I remember listening to 89.7 as a kid, already fed-up with bland commercial radio, thrilled to experience WKSU's Fresh Air for the first time. Later I discovered 'grown-up' music—classical and folk—that existed far beyond the mind-numbing and pervasive Top 40. While my classmates stuck with Van Halen, Journey, and Styx I rebelled against the status quo by listening to Beethoven, Mozart, and Bela Fleck on WKSU.

A career in radio was a surprising turn for me seeing that my first love was, and still is, science. I studied Chemistry at the University of Akron and for 13 years lived the quiet life of an analytical chemist in the Akron area... listening to WKSU in the lab all the while. Over time, I found myself more absorbed in what was on the radio than on the experiments in front of me. Several small explosions and chemical spills helped me decide that it was time to look for a way out of the lab. I studied theater and voice, began appearing in plays, commercials and small films hoping for the long-shot career of an actor. Not wishing to starve in the mean-time, I landed a part-time position at WKSU and began hosting the Sunday local performance show, In Performance. The magic of radio did its work on me, and in December 2000 I permanently shed the lab-coat to join WKSU full-time and have never looked back.

I'm now hosting Morning Edition, and contributing WKSU news reports on subjects ranging from Younstown boxer Kelly Pavlik to the backyard songs of crickets and katydids.  I love doing news.  It's perfect for someone like me -   intensely curious ( i.e. nosy)  and with a short attention span -  "...on to the next story!" I'm grateful I've finally found my niche.

WKSU is one of those rare places where creativity and technology come together to create a product that touches your intellect and your soul—it makes you laugh and carries you through times of reflection. Maybe a kid listening today will be inspired to make the world a better place because of something he or she heard on WKSU. I'm extremely proud to be part of one of the best stations in the public radio system.

I enjoy living in Kent along with my wife, Marta, and my three wonderful children.