Dean takes on Dr. Travis Thompson hosts his morning radio show on KVHU Nov 2. Along with his weekly morning program, Thompson also hosted the “Nightflight” on Friday evenings and “Glorify Him” on Sunday mornings. [Jonathan Lindsay] Professor of Math and Dean of Science Travis Thompsoneats lunch with fellow deans Sept. 20 in the Founders Room. Each Thursday deans from all colleges met for lunch and interdepartmental fellowship. [Chris Hamilton] Alter Ego for campus radio station [deans] 145 Listeners to Harding University’s FM radio station KVHUmay have been familiar with the voice of Larry Parks coming through their speakers, but those listening may not have been aware of Parks’s true identity. Parks was really the alter ego of Dr.TravisThompson, dean of the college of sciences.Thompson came to Harding University in 1985 as a professor of computer science and mathematics, and in 1986 became involved with the University’s campus station, then KHCA. So when KVHU went on the air during the 2006-2007 school year,Thompson made it known that he was interested in working for the station. With his past radio experience, Thompson took on the name Larry Parks and began hosting his own show on the new station. “I had always wanted to do radio work, ever since I had been in high school,”Thompson said.“I had always had the show ‘Nightflight’on Friday nights from 7 p.m.until 1 a.m.from the beginning,and the Sunday morning show ‘Glorify Him’ had been there almost from the beginning.” Even though the station utilized student workers,Thompson said that he volunteered in order to help the new station get on an even footing. “I let the station know that I wanted to help,”Thompson said. At the end of the spring of 2007, KVHU needed more helping hands with students leaving for the summer.Thompson said that this led to the creation of his third show entitled “Drive Time.” “ ‘DriveTime’in the morning really kicked in during the summer because Dr. [Dutch] Hoggatt and myself were the only ones here,”Thompson said. WhileThompson’s show “Glorify Him”only aired on Sunday mornings, “Drive Time”was a weekday morning show airing from 5 a.m. until 8 a.m. Thompson said that he most enjoyed his show “Nightflight” which aired on Friday nights and consisted of his own personal music collection of Americana music from the 50’s and 60’s. “Friday’s ‘Nightflight’ was my music, and only on Friday night was my music played,”Thompson said. “It was mainly 50’s and early to mid 60’s, up to, but not including, the ‘British Invasion’. It was all pure Americana up to 1965.” Thompson’s contributions to the station did not end with his work as a disc jockey. Dr. Linda Thompson, director of the McNair Scholarship program andThompson’s wife, said her husband contributed his knowledge about music from the 50’s and 60’s to the station along with his expansive album collection. “When it came to the music of that era,he could not only tell the audience what the song was, what year it came out, what label it came out on, and who recorded it…but also who else may have recorded it,”Thompson said. “He had all this music that he could take, and I really think he has helped their offerings a great deal.” Thompson said that the station boasted over 16,000 different titles in their collection, after Dr. Hoggatt, associate professor of communication, and his students transferred vinyl albums to digital format. After working at the station for over a year, Thompson continued to spend his evenings working at KVHU as Larry Parks, but his colleagues knew who was really speaking on the airwaves. “A lot of the teachers and staff listened to the station because it was older music, and almost all of them knew it was me on the air. I couldn’t disguise my voice very well,”Thompson said. From mild-mannered Dean of the College of Science by day, to radio personality Larry Parks by night,Thompson showed that one could engage in every one of their passions. [Jared Abelson]
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