Bob Beck
News DirectorBob Beck has been News Director of Wyoming Public Radio since 1988. During his time as News Director WPR has won over 100 national, regional and state news awards.
In addition to duties as News Director, Bob is the co-creator, co-host and producer of the news magazine Open Spaces, which has won nine national Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) awards. Bob has personally won four PRNDI awards for reporting and four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. He has also won numerous Associated Press and Wyoming Association of Broadcasters awards in his career.
Bob was given the WEA School Bell Award for education reporting and was honored by the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving for his reporting. On the television side, Bob has been part of two Emmy Award-winning PBS telecasts.
In his career, Bob has covered the legislature longer than any Wyoming broadcaster. Additional coverage as a reporter includes events such as the Mark Hopkinson execution, the Jessica Dubroff plane crash, the Matthew Shepard murder and a drunk driving crash that killed eight University of Wyoming Athletes.
Professionally, he has served on the PRNDI Board and has been state coordinator for the Radio Television Digital News Association and Project Vote Smart.
Bob taught broadcast news at the University of Wyoming for 20 years and twice was honored with a Top Prof award by the UW Mortar Board.
Around Laramie, Bob is active in community events. He co-chaired the 2009 Albany County United Way Campaign, served as President of the United Way Board, and has been involved with other non-profit organizations as a board member and volunteer.
Prior to coming to WPR, Bob worked as a News and Sportscaster at stations in Wyoming and Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is a native of Wheaton, Illinois in suburban Chicago.
Email: btwo@uwyo.edu
Phone: 307-766-6626
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After a year off due to COVID-19, the "Daddy of 'em All" finally gets to celebrate its 125th year as Cheyenne Frontier Days returns. General Chairman Jimmy Dean Siler and PR Chairman Mike Smith join us to discuss the two-week event which kicks off next weekend.
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This week the University of Wyoming (UW) announced some big plans. After already reducing $42 million, the university had to cut another $13 million. Those cuts will involve the loss of roughly 75 jobs. Along with that, UW announced it's consolidating a number of departments, and shifting science and math programs from the College of Arts and Sciences to the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture.
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The University of Wyoming is planning to completely reorganize the College of Arts and Sciences while beefing up the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture.UW released its plan this week that will also reduce over $13 million and cut some jobs.
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Open Spaces show rundown for July 9th, 2021.
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The headline this week is that American CryptoFed was the first legally recognized Decentralized Autonomous Organization in Wyoming and the nation. Earlier this year the Wyoming Legislature passed a law which offers legal protections to DAO’s with the hopes that it would trigger blockchain businesses in the state. Marion Orr is the CEO of American CryptoFed which is part of the digital currency effort. She joins us to explain all this and what they are hoping to accomplish.
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Wyoming's Economic Analysis Division says the first quarter of 2021 included major losses in jobs and revenue from the previous year. Places like Niobrara, Converse and Campbell counties experienced huge drops in sales and use taxes.
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The University of Wyoming is embarking on five projects designed to improve the state. It's part of what is being referred to as the Grand Challenges initiative. The idea is for the projects to provide either solutions for a problem facing Wyoming or find a way to improve the state.
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The growth in COVID-19 state caseloads has put Wyoming in the top ten most cases nationally. A big reason for this is the spike of cases in Laramie County where the vaccination rate is slightly above 30 percent. County Health Officer Dr. Stan Hartman told Bob Beck what's going on.
