bios
Mike Dunn - KBIA General Manager & UCS Director
Under his leadership, KBIA has maintained a cume rating among the top five university-licensed public radio stations over the past 15 years, according to Arbitron. Since 1987, KBIA has more than tripled its membership funding. Dunn is an acknowledged expert in public radio fundraising strategies. He supervises 19 full-time employees.
Mike also directs the University Concert Series at MU which, under his supervision, returned a profit for the first time ever in 1991. Since that time, private donations, ticket sales and corporate contributions have risen dramatically.
Dunn teaches Issues in Broadcast Management, in the School of Journalism. He also teaches a course in broadcast programming for the Department of Communication at MU.
Prior to his work at Missouri, Dunn was General Manager of KCSC-FM and associate professor with tenure of Oral Communication at Central State University in Oklahoma City, OK. You can contact him via e-mail here: DunnM at missouri dot edu
Roger Karwoski - Asst. General Mgr. and Chief Engineer
Roger is KBIA's assistant general manager and chief engineer. He's also the unofficial station historian -- he's been a member of the staff since the station first went on the air in 1972! Roger came to MU just after completing his MS degree at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. Whether it's the quality of the "sound" of KBIA, or the maintenance of the various pieces of broadcast equipment it takes to run the station, Roger is the guy called to make it all work. Roger also teaches audio production for the Department of Communication at MU.
Prior to his work at Missouri, Roger worked as an announcer and/or engineer at radio and TV stations in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. You can contact him via e-mail here: KarwoskiR at missouri dot edu
Robert Wells - Sales Manager
Robert Wells, a Columbia native, holds a BS in business from the University of Missouri. In his capacity as Sales Manager for KBIA Radio and corporate development for the University Concert Series, he has worked with arts organizations around mid-Missouri. He serves on several local committees and boards including the Leadership Columbia Steering Committee, Columbia Choral Ensemble Board, and Columbia Eco Recreation Park Committee, and is involved in his neighborhood association and local church. You can contact him via e-mail here: WellsJR at missouri dot edu
Susan Cameron - KBIA & UCS PR and Development
Susan Cameron is the graphic designer for KBIA and the Concert Series. Her duties also include marketing, public relations, production, and sales. Susan has been with the organization since 1996. She is married to Barry Cameron (owner of Barry Cameron Design and Build) and together they have three children. They reside in Millersburg, Missouri. You can contact her via e-mail here: CameronS at missouri dot edu
Kimberly Mouser - UCS Asst. Dir. and KBIA Development
Kimberly has worked for KBIA/University Concert Series since 2004. She is the Assistant Director of the Concert Series and does the booking for their performances. She also is an Account Executive for KBIA and helps secure radio underwriting and corporate sponsorships. She is an MU alum, graduating from the University’s College of Business with an MBA. She did her undergrad at Southeast Missouri State University in Health Management.
She is an active member of the Columbia Multisport Club and you can find her swimming, biking or running weekday mornings at 5:30 a.m. When not working or working out, she enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with her friends and family. You can contact her via e-mail here: MouserK at missouri dot edu
Erin Jenkins - Membership Coordinator
Originally from a small town -- the self-proclaimed "pecan capital of the world" -- Erin Jenkins received her Bachelor's in Communication with an English minor at the University of Missouri. She is excited to be a part of KBIA and is looking forward to getting to know the public radio community. You can contact her via e-mail here: JenkinsEJ at missouri dot edu
John Bailey - Program Director
John Bailey is a native of mid-Missouri and has provided KBIA with more than thirteen years of support, some of it while earning his BA in Radio-TV Communication at the University of Missouri. John has returned full-time to programming, production, and air work after five years as Membership Coordinator. You can hear him between noon and 3 most weekdays, and most Fridays during Morning Edition. He also helps maintain kbia.org and the University Concert Series site. You can contact him via e-mail here: BaileyJS at missouri dot edu
Pat Akers - Technical Operations Manager
D. Patrick "Pat" Akers: "I was born and raised in south-central Illinois, fifty-plus years ago. I probably developed my love for classical music and foreign language from my German immigrant mother. I started college wanting to end up as a science reporter, took time to switch to broadcasting school and ended up in radio in Columbia. I started out at KFRU where my greatest joy was getting to know Mahlon Aldridge. I have enjoyed being Operations Manager for KBIA since April, 1987." You can contact him via e-mail here: AkersP at missouri dot edu
Kyle Felling - Assistant Program Director
Kyle Felling was born in the rugged northwest Missouri hamlet of St. Joseph (where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended). Inspired from a young age by the spirit of the early settlers who used St. Joseph as an embarkation point in their journey westward, Kyle developed the heart of an explorer and yearned to leave for adventures of his own. Perhaps as a result of attending John Glenn elementary school, young Kyle dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but was disheartened when someone told him that astronauts had to be good at math. He also considered being a tow truck driver, and like the heroes of his favorite childhood television shows (The A-Team and The Incredible Hulk) he saw himself traveling the country, helping people in trouble and getting into wacky adventures. He still harbors that dream.
Kyle's love of television also brought him into contact with a show called WKRP in Cincinnati. That show's fun depiction of a small Cincinnati radio station coupled with frequently being told that he had a "face for radio," planted the seeds of a broadcasting career in Kyle's head. (To this day Kyle considers WKRP's vision of radio to be eerily accurate, most notably in its depiction of sales staff.) Kyle began volunteering at KBIA during his first semester at the University of Missouri, and has been on the air on a regular basis ever since. His first air shift was 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., playing the Smooth Jazz likes of Kenny G, Russ Freeman and Candy Dulfer. In 1999 he began serving as the local host of All Things Considered, and has recently taken on added responsibility as KBIA's Assistant Program Director.
In his spare time, Kyle enjoys reading H.L. Mencken and T.S. Eliot, listening to the Violent Femmes, watching the Power Puff Girls and spending time with his niece Kylee Johnson. Kyle is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, a Macintosh partisan and can recite from memory Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (I Feel Fine)," and the St. Crispen's Day Speech from Henry V. He hopes to one day be an astronaut, Senator, or to marry the monarch of a small principality. You can contact him via e-mail here: FellingK at missouri dot edu
Darren Hellwege - Announcer/Producer
Darren Hellwege joined the station in 1987, moving from his hometown in the Oklahoma City Metro where he'd worked for public radio station KCSC. In more than 20 years at KBIA, he's done sales and fundraising for the station and served in various programming positions. He is the host of three weeknight programs -- Thinking Out Loud, Tuesdays at 6:30, plus Thinking Out Loud: Arts on Monday and Thinking Out Loud: Fridays at Mizzou -- as well as a Saturday morning program, Thinking Out Loud: Saturday Sports.
Throughout most of his career at KBIA, however, one thing remains consistent, and that is Darren as local host of Morning Edition. His familiar voice has made KBIA's Morning Edition one of mid-Missouri's most popular programs. Nanette Ward of Services for Independent Living introduced him at a "RampArt" event as "the voice of Columbia."
Darren has taken advantage of his position at KBIA to get involved in many community projects. He's been Master of Ceremonies for several events including "CanStruction" and "RampArt." He's also worked through KBIA to benefit The Salvation Army, Central Missouri Food Bank, Voluntary Action Center, The United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, American Red Cross, and countless others.
Darren's commitment to Columbia and mid-Missouri extends to his life outside the station as well, where he's served on the Columbia/Boone County Board of Health and Boone County Mental Health Board of Trustees, on the board of the PTA at Russell Boulevard Elementary School, and in other civic groups. Darren has coached youth sports for Columbia Diamond Council and Boys and Girls Clubs, and received a "Russell Rose" from the students of Russell Boulevard Elementary for his years of volunteer service to the school, where he was a "Classroom Dad" for 6 years.
Darren and his wife Bonnie have two children, Kristian and Janie Beth. His hobbies include sports, having been named by KOMU-TV as "The biggest Rams fan in central Missouri," barbequing, reading, and research into genealogy and family history, particularly in relation to the Civil War. Despite maintaining loyalties to his home team, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, he is a season ticket holder for Mizzou football and women's basketball.
Darren graduated from Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, OK, and attended the University of Central Oklahoma and University of Missouri. You can contact him via e-mail here: HellwegeD at missouri dot edu
Karen Walker - Operations and Music Director
Karen joined us in February 2001. Karen's responsibilities include serving as programmer and morning host of classical music. Prior to KBIA, Karen was Music Director for KRCU in Cape Girardeau, MO, for almost 9 years.
Radio is something that Karen almost literally fell into. Her background is actually in Music Education. Karen holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Central Missouri State University and a Master of Music Education from Southeast Missouri State University. She has taught three years in public and parochial schools. It was while finishing her Masters degree that the opportunity to work in public radio came about and the rest, as they say, is history.
Karen has four children: Aaron, Candace, Kendall, and Kristen. You can contact her via e-mail here: WalkerKL at missouri dot edu
Jennifer Wright - KBIA Announcer; UCS Box Ofc Mgr. and Outreach Coordinator
Jennifer began her work with KBIA and the University Concert Series in June of '99 as a volunteer in the office and as a weekend announcer. In the years since joining the staff, she has served in various capacities, the most recent being ticket sales and educational outreach for the Concert Series. For KBIA she has assisted with Reel Music and can be heard each week on the air.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, dreaming of exciting travels around the world, and most of all, spending time with her three daughters. You can contact her via e-mail here: WrightJenn at missouri dot edu
Janet Saidi - News Director
Janet Saidi comes to KBIA from California, where she spent 10 years in print and broadcast media as a writer and producer. Janet co-produced and -hosted a nightly culture magazine on San Diego’s NPR-affiliate station for three years. She has also written for the Christian Science Monitor and the Los Angeles Times as a books, culture and features writer. For three years, Janet wrote a regular column – “Magazine Scene” – about the magazine industry for the Books section of the San Diego Union-Tribune. She has edited alternative news and community publications in San Diego.
Before life in California, Janet spent nearly a decade living in England, where she earned a Master’s in Literature from University College, London (UCL). Finally, Janet has worked as a reporter, researcher and as the series associate producer for the four-hour PBS series Remaking American Medicine, which focuses on the people and programs that are on the cutting edge of a culture-change in American healthcare.
Janet is a self-described public-broadcasting egghead who got her start on the talent side very young - as a preschooler on “Romper Room.” She is very excited to be working full-time in public radio in Columbia, Missouri. You can contact her via e-mail here: SaidiJ at missouri dot edu
Sally Comparato - Business Manager
Sally joined the KBIA/Concert Series staff in August of 1998. She previously had been working in the fiscal office for another department on campus. Sally earned a degree in Communications from Stephens College before embarking on a career filled with administrative and financial matters. Sally is responsible for the financial health of KBIA and the Concert Series as well as being the point person for University policy and procedures.
Sally and her husband, Jeff (an engineer with a general contractor), live outside of Columbia on a farm. They grow hard wood trees for replanting. They share the land and the house with their dogs and cats. The nineteen chickens stay in their own coop. You can contact her via e-mail here: ComparatoS at missouri dot edu
EEO compliance information
KBIA is looking for organizations that regularly distribute information about employment opportunities to job applicants or which have job applicants to refer. If your organization would like to receive notification of job vacancies at our station, please notify Sally Comparato c/o KBIA, 409 Jesse Hall, Columbia, MO 65211-1310, (573) 882-3431, and ComparatoS at missouri dot edu. KBIA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages minorities and females to apply.
