UWM: General Manager Dave Edwards Elected to NPR Board

MILWAUKEE – Dave Edwards, director and general manager of WUWM-FM,
Milwaukee Public Radio, has been elected to the National Public Radio
(NPR) board of directors.

NPR is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of
noncommercial news, talk and entertainment programming. A privately
supported, not-for-profit membership organization, NPR serves a growing
audience of 26 million Americans each week in partnership with more than
800 independently operated public radio stations.

The NPR board of directors sets the policies and priorities of NPR
management, monitors its performance and provides financial oversight.
The board consists of 17 directors, 10 of whom are managers of NPR
member stations and are elected to the board by their fellow member
stations. The seven remaining directors include the president of NPR,
the chairman of the NPR Foundation and five prominent members of the
public selected by the board and confirmed by NPR member stations.

Since becoming general manager in 1985, Edwards has spearheaded major
initiatives, including a successful capital fund-raising campaign that
allowed the station to move into state-of-the-art broadcast facilities.
Under his leadership, community fund-raising has increased by more than
860 percent.

He expanded the station’s local programming effort, which now includes
the production of daily comprehensive news coverage from the largest
radio-only news department in Southeastern Wisconsin, and created a
daily news magazine program that focuses on important issues facing the
community. During his tenure, WUWM has been the most listened-to public
radio station in Milwaukee.

Prior to 1985, Edwards’ professional career included stints as a radio
program manager, news director, news reporter, and anchor for public
radio, commercial radio and television stations. He won numerous local
and regional awards for journalism and was a regular contributor to
National Public Radio news magazines in the early 1980s. Edwards has
also served as a consultant to public radio stations around the country,
and serves on the Board of the Radio Research Consortium and The
University Station Alliance.

WUWM-FM began as a charter member of National Public Radio in 1967. The
station broadcasts locally produced in-depth news, quality entertainment
and cutting-edge music, as well as programming from National Public
Radio, including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” WUWM is
licensed to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and operated by
the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee College of Letters and Science,
but about 79 percent of its budget comes from listener support. It can
be found at 89.7 FM.