Chuck Holmes stepped down as executive director and GM of WBHM in Birmingham, Ala., in December after nearly four years leading the public radio station.
He began Monday as executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance.
“I love public media and its mission,” Holmes told Current in an email. “WBHM is a terrific station and I would not have departed were it not for this unexpected opportunity at Alabama Humanities and the ability to flex some different muscles in a vital mission to serve our state with programs that seek to educate and enlighten. In many ways, it is a very similar mission to public media’s.”
Prior to joining WBHM in 2017, Holmes worked at NPR as deputy managing editor and supervising senior editor of Morning Edition. He worked as a foreign correspondent and foreign editor for Cox Newspapers before joining public radio. “For the first time in my adult life, I will not be in or near a newsroom,” he wrote in a letter to WBHM staff announcing the decision.
“I depart knowing that WBHM is in eminently skilled hands,” Holmes wrote in the letter. “Anyone who knows WBHM knows that is a fact. Our mission is a shared endeavor, larger than any one person. WBHM’s vital work will go on. There are successes to build upon and new and creative ventures to launch. I can’t wait to see and hear the amazing things to come.”
Will Dahlberg will lead the station in an interim capacity during the search for Holmes’ replacement.