Dr. Manfred Wolfram retired at the end of December 2009, following 23 years as professor and head of the Electronic Media Division.  He continues his work in the division as director of the Munich Summer Curriculum and as instructor of Survey of Film, spring quarter.

Dr. Wolfram’s academic career began long before his arrival in Cincinnati. He received his doctorate degree from University of California Berkeley, where he collaborated with professor and author Herb Zettl and began teaching the Sight, Sound, and Motion course.

He was hired to teach at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where he had the opportunity to teach across disciplines. This informed the structure of the E-Media curriculum as it exists today.

"The medium is always a tool to tell stories. We are storytellers," Dr. Wolfram says.

Dr. Wolfram fell in love with CCM after seeing a performance of the Russian opera A Love for Three Oranges. This was when he was interviewing to be the head of what was then known as the Broadcasting division.

When he began the position in the fall of 1986, Dr. Wolfram took initiative in working with the professional and performing arts communities in Cincinnati.

Early on he was introduced to Frederick Ziv, a Cincinnatian, known as the father of syndicated television programming. They forged a partnership to help bring E-Media into national prominence.

The two of them partnered to create the Ziv Banquet.  The black-tie affair was held each spring. A nationally recognized media figure was honored with the Ziv Award and outstanding E-Media students received their awards on this occasion. The economic downturn in the media industry, which funded the banquet, necessitated a down-scaling of this even in the last two years.

Upon his arrival, Dr. Wolfram formed the E-Media Advisory Panel, which worked with the professional community to raise funding for the division. This initiative raised tens of thousands of dollars in order to provide internship opportunities for E-Media students.

Dr. Wolfram also oversaw large changes in the division. In the early 1990’s, he recognized the shifting nature of the media industry and changed the division’s name from “Broadcasting” to “Electronic Media.” This was accompanied by several curricular overhauls. 

When Dr. Wolfram arrived at UC, the division had two tenured faculty members.  His initiatives enabled the faculty to grow to a high of seven full time positions several years ago. Dr. Wolfram was also instrumental in planning and securing funding for  the division’s facilities in the new CCM building, which opened in 1999.

"My mandate was to prepare my students for a career, and to give them a thirst for knowledge," Dr. Wolfram says.

With this in mind, Dr. Wolfram created the Munich Summer Curriculum, which he calls the greatest achievement during his time in E-Media.

Dr. Wolfram saw the Munich Summer Curriculum as a way to allow students to look beyond the midwest, attain a global perspective, and excel beyond the classroom.

His efforts to encourage collaboration between E-Media and the rest of UC also rank among his achievements.

"A university is a supermarket, filled with goodies. You have to shop for the best meals," he says.

Looking to the future of the division, Dr. Wolfram says he'd like for Electronic Media to gain more prominence.

"We need more visibility on campus, and we need to grow the quality of our students by working with other related disciplines."

He sees the coming conversion from quarters to semesters as a way to reevaluate the division's identity. "We have all of the ingredients at this university to make this one of the best E-Media programs in the country."

Dr. Wolfram plans to spend some time traveling after his retirement. He wants to go west to visit his son and his old colleagues. Then, he will prepare for this year's Munich Summer Curriculum.

He'd also like to continue developing academic and professional ties between German and American universities.

Dr. Wolfram offers some parting advice to all of his current students.

"Stay your course, and believe in yourself. Nobody knows what they want to do, but you find what feels right. There's no big answer, only small steps."

"It's a monumental challenge, but you must be true to yourself, and listen to your voice."

Written by Kole Ross, November 2009