Jeffrey Pope named KUNM GM
Jeffrey Pope is the new GM of KUNM in Albuquerque, N.M.
Pope begins transitioning into the role Thursday on a part-time basis, according to a press release from the University of New Mexico, the station’s licensee. He will work alongside current GM Richard Towne, who will retire June 30.
Towne has led the station since 1994. He said that last fall, he reached 50 years of working in noncommercial radio and also turned 70.
“So, with that much alignment, I decided to retire so I could learn what it is like to not be working,” he said in an email to Current.
Pope will take over the position full-time June 16. He was most recently CEO of Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, N.C.
“For 60 years, KUNM has been an amazing asset to New Mexico and to public radio. I’m honored to be joining the station’s innovative team of professional and volunteer staff,” Pope said in the release. “Together we’ll listen to what the audience and community needs from KUNM and build the resources and capacity to respond.”
Livingston Associates led the national search for Towne’s successor.
