Rowan Radio under new management

The Whit, October 31, 2012

Frank Hogan, general manager of Rowan Radio WGLS-FM, has announced that he will retire at the end of 2012.

Hogan has been involved with Rowan Radio since 1977, when the university requested that he help design the radio studios for its budding RTF program. For years, Hogan served as an adjunct and helped develop the radio portion of the RTF major before being hired as the station’s first general manager in 1991.

“I am honored and privileged to have been associated with WGLS-FM and Rowan University for the past 35 years,” Hogan wrote in his retirement announcement. “Those of you I have had the pleasure of working with, teaching and mentoring have become engrained in the fabric of my professional life.”

Hogan’s seat will be filled by current Assistant Station Manager Derek Jones, who will start in the position as interim station manager on Nov. 12. Leo Kirschner, Rowan alumnus and host of WGLS’ “The Roll & Roll Time Machine,” will join the Rowan staff as interim assistant station manager today.

Jones formerly served as sports director and graduate assistant for WGLS-FM before beginning as assistant station manager in September 2002.

“I’m excited at the opportunity and challenge to run what I believe is one of the best college radio stations in the country,” Jones said over email. “Working with and cultivating the minds of students is something that has enriched my experience at Rowan Radio over the past 10 years as assistant station manager.”

Kirschner, who graduated from Rowan in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and a minor in music, mirrors Jones’ commitment to the university.

“I’m honored to be asked to keep the WGLS tradition alive,” Kirschner said. “My biggest hope is that my pairing with Derek will yield the same staggeringly successful results for WGLS and Rowan’s students as his pairing with Frank.”

As a student member of WGLS in the early ’90s, Kirschner recalls a time when the station was located in the basement of Savitz Hall and Hogan was starting out in his role as general manager.

“Frank Hogan is as much an institution as the university itself,” Kirschner said. “All the students that have sat behind the microphone at WGLS during Frank’s tenure have gained tremendously, and not just in their professions.”

Allie Volpe, a senior journalism and RTF double major, reflects fondly on her experiences with Hogan, Kirschner and Jones.

“The three of them have just been an awesome part of my experience [at WGLS],” Volpe said. “It’s sad to see Frank go, but we’re in good hands.”