Ralph Jennings, who led WFUV in Bronx, N.Y., as GM from 1985 to 2011, passed away Oct. 9 at age 86.
Across his tenure, Jennings was a defining force in WFUV’s transition from a college station into an impactful NPR member station at the top of its format in public radio. WFUV is licensed to Fordham University.
Known as “Doctor J” inside WFUV, “Ralph laid the groundwork for a public radio service that is known and appreciated by hundreds of thousands of weekly listeners in New York and beyond,” said Chuck Singleton, Jennings’ successor as GM.
Under Jennings’ vision and guidance, WFUV solidified its music discovery mission, expanded its training program for Fordham University students and established an advisory board and a community advisory board. He initiated WFUV’s award-winning “Strike a Chord” public service program and added livestreaming. Jennings also oversaw a 2006 studio upgrade and construction of a new broadcast transmission facility.
“Ralph also hired many of us who currently staff the station,” Singleton said.
A scholar of the history of public broadcasting, Jennings was erudite and at home in Fordham’s academic environment. “What’s more,” said Singleton, “Ralph probably had two full careers before stepping up to lead WFUV.”
In the 1960s, Jennings worked at WRVR, then a station at Riverside Church in New York City, producing radio features and documentaries, including covering the civil rights movement. Later, he served as deputy director under Everett C. Parker of the Office of Communication at the United Church of Christ. At UCC he worked on the successful landmark case to challenge and remove the license of a notoriously biased television station, WLBT in Jackson, Miss. He continued to work with UCC and other nonprofits to organize and train community groups across the country to fight discriminatory hiring and programming practices among radio and television broadcasters. Jennings was also instrumental in starting Mississippi’s first public radio station, WMPR-FM in Jackson.
“Ralph was a fighter — against injustice in society and within the media, and for financial support of public broadcasting stations,” said Singleton. “All of us who love WFUV owe Ralph our gratitude.”
The New York Times featured Dr. Jennings upon his retirement from WFUV in 2011, and Fordham Magazine described Jennings’ tenure upon the station’s 75th anniversary in 2023.
Before his passing, Jennings requested that charitable donations in his memory go to WFUV.