Before eight-tracks and tape cassettes — and way before CDs — Rudy Paolangeli ’54 was on his way to becoming an Ithaca radio institution.

A television-radio major at IC, Paolangeli had his first experience of radio at WICB. In 1956 he cocreated WTKO in Ithaca with Ellis Erdman and became its assistant manager. He also helped build WAUB in Auburn and became its general manager. Then, for 26 years he held various positions at WHCU AM/FM in Ithaca — sales manager, announcer, morning host, and general manager. From 1964 to 1983 he was also a part-time faculty member in IC’s School of Communications, where he taught many subjects, from announcing to station management, and was the radio director for WICB/WVIC and the faculty adviser for Alpha Epsilon Rho, the national broadcasting honorary society.

He "retired" in 1988, but his many fans begged him to return to radio. So he put together The Rudy Paolangeli Program, a showcase for nostalgic music that is still heard on WHCU each Sunday morning. At his home in Ithaca he created an audio production and broadcast facility, RP Productions, from which he produces syndicated music programs and commercials. He is a member of the National Broadcasters’ Foundation Pioneers of America and continues to volunteer his time and home facilities — and voice — to produce radio public service announcements for dozens of nonprofit agencies. In April he was given the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Association’s Volunteer of the Year Award.

"I’ve been in this wonderful broadcasting business for close to 50 years," Paolangeli says, "and I can truly say I always look forward to going to work. I’m fortunate to do in retirement what I did most of my life — work in broadcasting." In December Paolangeli was presented with the Robert J. Uplinger Service Award by the New York State Lions Club. A few months earlier, a former student, George E. Pine III ’72, honored him and fellow TV-R professor John Keshishoglou with a plaque in a jazz studio in the new James J. Whalen Center for Music.

It has all been, says Paolangeli, "and still is, a labor of love. My advice for future broadcasters comes from an unknown source — find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life."

— Jennifer Everritt