Listen: WRVU co-founder remembers early days of campus radio

by Ann Marie Deer Owens | Posted on Monday, Oct. 11, 2010 — 5:35 PM

Dr. Raphael Smith's 1955 Commodore photo

Dr. Raphael Smith, one of the co-founders of WRVU, is one of six Vanderbilt alumni who will be inducted into the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame on Oct. 22. Smith, who is now a Vanderbilt University professor of medicine, emeritus, provided most of the technical expertise for getting the station built and on the air in 1953. After graduating in 1955, Smith became a noted cardiologist and researched the effect of weightlessness on astronauts’ cardiac rhythm and function during the Skylab missions. Smith continues to teach and mentor students at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.

Contact:
Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu