Proposals funded: Geyer, Guthold, McCord
Congratulations to Scott Geyer, assistant professor of chemistry, whose proposal entitled “Employing atomically precise colloidal synthesis to reveal the roles of stoichiometry, strain and electron density in metal phosphide electrocatalysts” has been funded by the National Science Foundation.
Congratulations to Martin Guthold, professor of physics, whose proposal entitled “Identifying the function of the Fibrin(ogen) alpha-C connector region” has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and by (subaward/subcontract from) East Carolina University.
Congratulations to Emily McCord, news director for 88.5 WFDD, whose proposal entitled “La Noticia’s match for RFA Newsroom Host Grant” has been funded by La Noticia.
Congratulations to Emily McCord, news director for 88.5 WFDD, whose proposal entitled “RFA Newsroom Host Grant” has been funded by Report for America.
Categories: Faculty News, Inside WFU, Staff News
88.5 WFDD Hive® Education Program receives top awards from Public Media Journalists Association
This message is shared on behalf of 88.5 WFDD.
88.5 WFDD, the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest University, received two first-place awards in the Student Division of the 2021 Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) Annual Awards Competition for projects created by students participating in Radio 101, an initiative of WFDD’s Hive® Education Program. 
WFDD won first place in PMJA’s Student Multi-Media Presentation category for “School, Interrupted,” a four-part series that explored school violence from students’ perspectives. The series culminated in a live Town Hall for Teens, where students, parents and school administrators gathered to hear students share their stories and brainstorm positive solutions. The series also included opportunities to continue the conversation online.
The station was also recognized for the “School, Interrupted” series episode, “What It’s Like for Us Every Day.” In this feature, three students shared a raw, honest conversation about their experiences as African American students in a society reckoning with issues of race and inequality.
“When you hear about topics like these on the news, it’s usually through the lens of academics and experts,” said Radio 101 instructor and Hive® Program Manager Gabriel Maisonnave. “While those views are extremely important and valid, they are also, more often than not, far removed from the issue at hand. ‘School, Interrupted’ flipped the script. Those who experience school violence every day were the ones front and center of the conversation. This is the reason WFDD’s Hive® exists: to provide students with a platform where the stories are not just about them but by them.”
Categories: Inside WFU
WFDD celebrates 75th anniversary
A guest post from 88.5 WFDD 
88.5 WFDD, the NPR affiliate station licensed to Wake Forest University, is marking its 75th anniversary throughout 2021. The public radio station, which serves 32 counties in the Piedmont and High Country, as well as southern Virginia, traces its roots to an inaugural 1946 broadcast by two students from their rooming house on the old Wake Forest College campus in Wake Forest, NC. Those two students, Al Parris and Henry Randall, continued their pirate broadcasts with growing support from the campus community, until—with the support of the College—they received an FCC license. The first legal sign-on took place in 1948 as WAKE, but shortly thereafter, the station was required to change its call letters, as WAKE was already assigned to another station. The call letters became WFDD, for “Wake Forest Demon Deacons.”
WFDD continued as a student-run station through its move, along with Wake Forest University, to Winston-Salem, NC. In the late 1950s, under the leadership of the station’s first non-student station manager, Wake Forest College associate professor of speech and communications Julian Burroughs, WFDD transitioned to a professional station. In 1970, it was one of 86 stations in the country to join the National Public Radio network at its inception. The following year saw the inaugural broadcast from National Public Radio on April 20, 1971: coverage of Senate hearings on the Vietnam War. On May 3, 1971, NPR’s flagship program, All Things Considered, premiered and was carried by WFDD. The program remains on the air today. Read more
Categories: Guest Post, Inside WFU
88.5 WFDD wins regional Edward R. Murrow Award for 'Overall Excellence'
The following is a guest post from 88.5 WFDD.
88.5 WFDD, the NPR-affiliate station licensed to Wake Forest University and serving 32 counties in the Piedmont and High Country of North Carolina, has been honored with the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for “Overall Excellence” for its work in 2020; this is the fourth consecutive year that WFDD has been recognized in the “Overall Excellence” category. 
The award commends a year of high-quality reporting that includes the station’s coverage of the pandemic, the local protests after the murder of George Floyd and a pivotal election. Of note is WFDD’s commitment to bringing listeners the most critical COVID-19 information with a live blog in both English and Spanish to serve our community at large. To connect on a deeper level, WFDD also launched a series of virtual community conversations that invited listeners to discussions about race, education during the pandemic and how to safeguard your vote.
“It goes without saying that this has been a challenging year, but it’s also been an incredibly meaningful one, as the importance of local journalism has been cast in a new light,” said News Director Emily McCord. “It has been our mission and privilege to serve our community in this way and we are humbled by this incredible honor.”
The Radio Television Digital News Association has been recognizing outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession of broadcast and digital journalism. WFDD competes in a region that includes large market radio stations in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Regional winners automatically advance to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition.
Visit the 88.5 WFDD website to learn more.
Categories: Guest Post, Inside WFU
88.5 WFDD Virtual Community Conversation: COVID-19 vaccines
88.5 WFDD will present the next in its series of free Virtual Community Conversations on Monday, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. 
Bethany Chafin, assistant news director for WFDD, will moderate a discussion titled “What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines.” Public health experts will cover topics from the safety of the vaccine to the rollout timeline to how it’s being distributed. This webinar will be presented in both English and Spanish.
Panelists include:
- Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS)
- Michelle Laws, Ph.D., NCDHHS Historically Marginalized Populations COVID Response Team lead
- Iulia Vann, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Guilford County Public Health
- Christopher Ohl, M.D., Wake Forest Baptist Health infectious disease expert
Listeners can submit questions for the guests in advance using this form.
Visit the WFDD website to register.
Categories: Events, Inside WFU
