New to the King chair

Keith Brand is a long time storyteller. Now he’ll be telling stories from the King chair.

Brand, in his second three-year term as chair of the Department of Radio, Television & Film (RTF) within the College of Communication & Creative Arts (CCCA), this semester also assumes the endowed King chair.

Held initially by Professor Michael Donovan, who retired in 2018, the endowed chair was funded in 2002 by a $1 million gift from the Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation.

The New York City-based foundation was established in 1989 by Diana King in honor of her parents whose early efforts in film and television led to the creation of King World Productions, Inc., distributor of some of TV’s most popular programming including "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy!" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Donovan, who began teaching at Rowan in the 1970s, was also a marketing consultant and education coordinator for the National Association of Television Program Executives, through which he formed close ties to the King family.

“The King family gift not only supports the work of the chair, but it also funds scholarships for our students,” Brand said.

He said the CCCA, which offers some of the university’s most popular programming, this year welcomes its largest freshman class of RTF majors at nearly 50.

A full professor, Brand is a veteran of University of Pennsylvania radio station WXPN-FM where, for nearly 30 years, he hosted the weekend morning program Sleepy Hollow. He is also a freelance journalist who produces features for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Weekend Edition Saturday, and Justice Talking programs.

In addition to serving as King and RTF chair, Brand teaches courses on cinema and audio storytelling.

“Human beings are hardwired to learn from stories,” Brand said. “One of the essential things we teach in Radio, Television & Film is how to tell good stories.”

Brand, who started teaching at Rowan in 2002, urges new and returning students to take advantage of opportunities in and out of the classroom, especially through media internships and popular CCCA clubs Cinema Workshop, Rowan Television Network and Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM.

“It goes without saying that classroom time and assignments are the top priority but our most successful students make the most of their free time and that includes active participation in the extracurricular clubs,” he said. “These clubs help students build skills and develop an idea of what they really want to do.”

As for his new position in the endowed chair, Brand said he’s grateful to the King family for supporting a program at Rowan that they believe in.

“And I also want to thank the viewers of Jeopardy,” he said.