Patricia Deal Cahill elected vice-chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; announces retirement as KCUR 89.3 FM general manager

Kansas City, Mo. – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) elected board member Patricia Deal Cahill to vice chair at its meeting on Sept. 20. In tandem with this appointment, Cahill announces her intent to retire from her post as general manager of KCUR 89.3 FM, effective June 30, 2012.

KCUR expects to launch a search for Cahill’s successor, seeking someone who understands the station’s value to the community.

Throughout her 24 years as general manager, Cahill has helped the station grow from 48,000 to 192,000 weekly listeners. Under her leadership, the station went from providing strictly audio content to providing audio and online content that includes multimedia.

“Working at KCUR is joyful and personally and professionally fulfilling,” said Cahill, who has spent 46 years in the Radio-TV-Film industry. “Each day, I look forward to working with smart, thoughtful, curious people who believe public radio can help people change themselves and the world around them. I will miss the KCUR staff and volunteers; the university faculty, staff and administration; KCUR listeners; and people working in the public broadcasting system.”

Since 1987, Cahill also has served as assistant professor of Communication Studies in the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences, mentoring several Communication Studies student-interns who eventually became full-time KCUR employees. As part of her UMKC Broadcast Management course, Cahill helped students create a business plan for a student-operated radio station – K-ROO – that will be housed in the UMKC Student Union.

Before joining KCUR, Cahill served as general manager and news and program director of KMUW-FM at Wichita State University. Cahill also served as an instructor in speech communications and journalism at the school. She has served on the board of directors of NPR and as president of the board of Public Radio in Mid America (PRIMA). Cahill earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications (Radio-TV-Film) and Geography, as well as a master’s degree in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Kansas.

About UMKC

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.


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