JACK DOMINIC NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF VOA MUSEUM

November 11, 2013

National VOA Museum of Broadcasting Names Executive Director.  Retiring WCET VP and Station Manager Jack Dominic Selected

    

John T. (Jack) Dominic, retiring WCET station manager, has been named executive director of the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester. 

Dominic, 67, has a 38-year career in broadcasting at CET, Cincinnati Public Television, and was instrumental in the recent consolidation of CET in Cincinnati and ThinkTV in Dayton.  He will retire as CET executive vice president and station manager in February of 2014 and begin work at the VOA museum on March 1, 2014.

”Jack brings a broad experience in the nonprofit sector as well as outstanding broadcast industry knowledge,” said Ken Rieser, VOA museum board chairman.  “He helped CET develop technical and programmatic excellence.  He also worked for several years developing public TV projects at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, so he is no stranger to the operation of a museum.”

Before joining CET in 1977, he worked for the American National Red Cross Cincinnati Division and on several United Way Campaigns in Cincinnati.  He will continue to be involved in local organizations, including the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce and on the Starling Orchestra board of directors.  He has served as adjunct professor at Northern Kentucky University and plans to teach in the eMedia Division of the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music.

The VOA museum has made significant progress toward its evolution into a world class museum.  The exterior of the iconic WWII era building on Tylersville Road has been restored and now looks much like it did in 1944, when it was constructed to house one of the most powerful and influential radio transmitters in the free world.  Daily news and cultural broadcasts were transmitted from the VOA-Bethany station during World War II and throughout the Cold War, ending in 1994, when the station was decommissioned by the federal government.  For millions of people in totalitarian states and democracies at risk worldwide, VOA news was the only news source for unbiased reporting.

”The role that this facility and its innovative technicians from Crosley and Avco Broadcasting played in world politics and the advancement of freedom and democracy cannot be overstated,” said Dominic.  “The museum also highlights the extraordinary contributions Cincinnati played in the development of broadcasting in this country and around the world. This is truly a compelling and important story, one I’m eager to help tell.  Electronic media with roots in southwest Ohio has had a massive impact on world affairs.”

The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting contains exhibits featuring the Voice of America at the VOA-Bethany station; Media Heritage’s Greater Cincinnati Museum of Broadcast History; the Gray History of Wireless Museum; and the West Chester Amateur Radio Assn.  The museums are open from 1 to 4 p.m. every third Saturday of the month.