After 26 Years, Shaper of an Influential Radio Station Signs Off

Ralph Jennings was packing up his things after 26 years at WFUV-FM, where he had transformed a chaotic college radio station at Fordham University with a tiny audience into one of the leading public radio outlets in the country and a rare cultural force.

More than half a century ago, he discovered the force of broadcasting could bend the steel of the world into a better, fairer place — for anyone willing to crawl under a desk, stretch a roll of electrician’s tape or hang a length of cable. Or, as in the case of Dr. Jennings, to do all that, and also travel to corners of the country where radio and television stations practiced open bigotry in their programs and hiring, but could be pressed to change.