About WOSU

General Manager - Tom Rieland
Tom joined WOSU in 2002 after 13 years as Director of the Center for Public Television & Radio at the University of Alabama, where supervised their statewide production division and Alabama Public Radio. He also taught courses in production and media technology. Tom’s career started in his hometown of La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he went to College and worked as a DJ at local radio stations including WCOW, where his listening audience was indeed primarily cows. He went on to become a TV reporter, anchor, and bureau chief at ABC network stations in Pensacola and Memphis before he chose to seek his graduate degree in Journalism from the University of Mississippi.

Tom is a producer at heart and is proud of his documentary work, which has garnered national and regional awards. One of his favorites is a documentary on the 1925 national football champion Alabama team. He served as president of the Ohio Educational Television Stations and on a variety of national advisory committees for public broadcasting. He is a Rotarian and is currently on the boards of the Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts and the Jazz Arts Group.

Tom and his wife, Carol, who is a social worker, have two teenage daughters, two cats and a Sheltie. His oldest daughter is attending Ohio State. Read Tom's blog by going here

Chief Operating Officer — Karen Olstad
Karen comes to WOSU from Alaska Public Telecommunications in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer. In addition to her position at Alaska Public Telecommunications, Olstad also worked 20 years for Washington State University’s joint NPR/PBS licensee, rising to the position of Associate General Manager and Chief Financial Officer, also serving two years as Acting General Manager. Over the years, she has served on numerous committees and as chair of the Public Broadcasting Management Association (PBMA). Karen has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Washington State University.

Karen was interested in the Chief Operating Officer position at WOSU because it appeared to be a perfect match between WOSU’s needs and her experience. She really enjoyed her job at Washington State University’s public broadcasting stations and was looking for an opportunity to return to return to the “Lower 48,” preferably at a major public university, so it’s no surprise that she loves college sports. In addition to having spent the vast majority of her career working in public radio and television, she is an avid fan of both.

Director of Operations, WOSU@COSI — Janice "Sheri" Walker
Sheri Walker graduated from Central High School, the new home for COSI. Although their mascot was a pirate, students from other area high schools referred to Central High students as "river rats." It's funny how the term "river rats" would be forgotten once Central met these schools on the football field for a football game. She is married with one son who resides in California and is involved in filmmaking. She has four brothers residing in Columbus; two of her brothers worked at WOSU. (Darrell Stewart who retired a few years ago, and Keith Stewart who worked here back in the sixties) Sheri has been employed at WOSU for 26 years, and audited The Stations in 1977 and 1978. Sheri was also employed as Senior Auditor in the OSU Internal Auditing department prior to coming to WOSU. She has served on many University committees; one of the most rewarding was the Presidential Search Committee in 1981, resulting in the 10th President of The University, Edward Jennings.

Director of Advancement - David Dunham
Dunham has worked for the last six years as a financial planner and has over 14 years of fundraising experience. He has worked for WVIZ TV 25 in Cleveland, in higher education, and served as a consultant to many community and religious organizations throughout his career. Dunham has also served on boards for community theatre in Chicago and Ohio, two social service boards, and a county mental health board. He is currently serving on the Ohio Humanities Council Board. As Director of Advancement at WOSU, Dunham will work to build on the success of the WOSU@COSI campaign and continue to sustain the ongoing growth of major and planned gifts. Dunham is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio with a B.A. degree in Political Science and Psychology with a minor in Vocal Music. “I am excited to return to my roots both in central Ohio and with public media. WOSU’s important community service mission is close to my heart. The opportunity to participate in and help forward that mission is both an honor and gratifying for me personally.”

Manager of Underwriting - Christine Sadic
Christine came to WOSU in January 2006, as Corporate Support and Foundation Giving Manager and has also served Chefs in the City Event Chairperson from 2007-2010. Christine worked in sales and marketing positions for various media formats including print, radio, and commercial TV since 1993. She started her public broadcasting career in 2000 and went back to school to receive a Masters degree in public broadcasting management in 2004 from Ohio University before being hired at WOSU. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Christine has also spent time living in Athens, Ohio and Boulder, Colorado. She received both her Bachelors (in Organizational Communications) and Masters (in Public Broadcasting Management) degrees from Ohio University. She enjoys spending time outside of work traveling to visit with family and seeing new parts of the world. She’s a movie buff and a music head and loves being outside, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.

Senior Director of Marketing/Communications — Susan M. Meyer
Susan is responsible for the Web sites, public relations, organizational development, all customer service efforts, the member magazine Airfare, the WOSU Speakers Bureau, the WOSU Volunteers Program, the WOSU History Archives, and oversees the marketing department. She also works on special projects related to OSU and acts as a facilitator for the culture transformation process at OSU. Susan serves on the Friends of the Library Board for the Columbus Metropolitan Library as well as serving on the Executive Committee. In 2005, Susan was chosen to participate in OSU's Leading Edge, a leadership development program. Susan received a Ph.D. in American Literature from OSU, which makes her the resident expert on everything showing on Masterpiece Theatre.

Director of Planning and Initiatives — David B. Carwile
A 30-year broadcasting veteran, David Carwile is Director of Planning and Initiatives and serves as an Associate Director of WOSU Public Media. After a turn as a Statehouse reporter in commercial broadcasting in the early 1980s, Dave joined WOSU in 1986 working as Director of Radio Programming and Radio Station Manager for WOSU-AM-FM. Away from the workplace, Dave is a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Columbus, and serves as the primary voice for The Ohio State University Marching Band at concerts and football games. Dave lives in Worthington with his wife Kathleen and son James.

Senior Director of Operations — Mary Alice Akins
Mary Alice - who is as Irish as you can get (“full-blooded and I have the temper to prove it!”) - was born in Xenia, OH, and survived the tornado of 1974. She has a B.A. from The Ohio State University in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Mary Alice has been married for over 20 years to her husband, Kevin, who currently works for The Scotts Company. Something interesting about Mary Alice: she can crochet a baby blanket and could put in your hardwood floors if needed. Mary Alice comments, “I really do enjoy working at WOSU and I love the people I work with. It’s never the same boring thing every day; you never know what is going to happen on any given day and that’s what makes it interesting.”

Senior Director of Content and Executive Producer — Brent Davis
Brent Davis is the senior content director for WOSU Public Media. He works with other staff members to create radio and TV programs and web material about Columbus and Central Ohio. He believes that it is vital that WOSU is recognized as a primary source for authentic, engaging, and informative content about this area. He joined WOSU in 2005 after 18 years at the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio. He grew up in Missour-uh, as he pronounces it, and graduated from the University of Georgia. His first job out of school was reporting and then producing at a television station in Savannah. His wife, Susan, is from Rhode Island, another great place to visit. She works as an educator on the pulmonary floor at Children’s Hospital and spends a lot of her time playing with kids. She says it’s a great job. Zack, their son, is a Paraguayan by birth and a skateboarder by choice. They adopted him when he was six months old.

Radio Programming Director — Michael Rathke
Michael Rathke has been Program Director for WOSU AM and FM since December 2006. Previously, Rathke has been Program Director for NPR affiliates WFCR FM in Amherst, MA, the Northwest Public Radio network based in Pullman, WA, and the former WCAL FM in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Rathke has also worked as Music Director for the New Hampshire Public Radio network based in Concord, NH, Operations Director at WNIN FM in Evansville, IN, and Announcer-Producer at WKMS FM in Murray, KY. Rathke began work in public radio as a classical and jazz music announcer at KFJM FM while a student at the University of North Dakota. Away from work, Rathke enjoys cheering for the Minnesota Twins and has been known to travel hundreds of miles to attend Bruce Springsteen concerts.

News Director — Mike Thompson
Mike Thompson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and earned a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from The Syracuse University and a Masters in Business Administration from an Ohio State University. Mike has worked in public and commercial radio and television in New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio. During his career he has won numerous awards awards for investigative, enterprising, and feature reporting. Mike is married to Mary Cavanaugh Thompson. She is a teacher. The Thompson’s have twins William and Madeleine.

Music Director — Beverley Ervine
Beverley fully expected to be teaching somewhere her whole life. Having been the daughter of an elementary school teacher, Beverley thought she’d follow her mother’s footsteps. For a while she did, teaching elementary classroom music and elementary band, high school band, and an undergraduate music appreciation course as a graduate teaching associate. However, Beverley filled the newly created, full-time position of Music Librarian for the classical radio station. Now, as Music Director, Beverley spends the bulk of her work hours programming the music you hear Boyce, John and Jennifer play and talk about on the air. She met and married her husband, Boyce Lancaster, at the radio station, out on the back patio next to their offices.

Director of Educational Services — Marcelita G. Haskins
Marcelita G. Haskins has over 25 years of experience developing and delivering services in education and outreach through public broadcasting. As the Director of Educational Services for WOSU Public Media, she oversees early childhood education services including workshops for center-based and home child care providers focusing on strategies to promote school readiness; the development of multimedia projects for integration into in K-12 curricula; and outreach projects that advance WOSU Public Media’s educational mission. Marcelita was born and raised in the Philippines. She holds a baccalaureate degree from the University of the Philippines, a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in communication from The Ohio State University. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Literacy Network.

TV Program Director — Stacia Hentz
Stacia was hired in June 2002 as TV Master Control Supervisor, and has served as Manager On-air Support services, and now TV Program Manager. She spent 16 years with CNN traveling the world, from Emperor Hirohito’s funeral in Tokyo, to the Romanian upraising in Bucharest, to the Gulf War in Israel. Born in Cincinnati, she grew up in Middletown, Ohio, Amherst, NH, Chicago and Atlanta. "My Dad was on the move for work. I lived in Atlanta for 23 years and consider it my hometown. I moved to Columbus 9 years ago and have fallen in love with the city!" She graduated from the Univ. of Missouri with a BA in Communications and a minor in American History. She's involved in the Liturgical Ministries for her church, and loves to travel. "At last count I have visited 24 countries and 34 of our great states. But my favorite place on earth is still Walt Disney World in Orlando!"