BIOGRAPHY OF DONNA L. HALPER   author, educator, media historian, radio consultant

Donna Halper attended Northeastern University in Boston, where she was the first woman announcer in the school’s history, broadcasting a nightly show on the campus radio station beginning in October 1968.  Ms Halper completed 2 master’s degrees from Northeastern and went on to a successful career in broadcasting, including more than 23 years as a radio programming and management consultant in markets of all sizes, all over North America.  She has hired and trained staffs, worked with and developed talent, helped to choose or improve formats, conducted music and market research, and helped her client stations to get better ratings. She has also done publicity for a number of her clients, showing them how to gain positive media attention.  Prior to becoming a consultant, she spent 13 years as an announcer, music director and assistant program director in Cleveland, New York, Washington DC and Boston. 

Donna Halper is a respected and experienced media historian, whose research has resulted in appearances on Chronicle (WCVB, Channel 5 in Boston), Voice of America,  PBS/NewsHour, National Public Radio/Weekend America,  New England Cable News, the History Channel, ABC Nightline, WBZ Radio, WNYC Radio, and elsewhere.  She has been quoted in a number of newspapers, magazines, books and encyclopedias.  Ms. Halper is the author of three books, the most recent of which is “Invisible Stars:  A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting.”  She is completing her fourth, Icons of Talk, a history of talk shows, and recently wrote a chapter for Michael Keith’s new book “Radio Cultures”-- about how radio brought women’s issues into the public sphere.  Ms Halper also does free-lance writing for several magazines and newspapers.  Essays of hers have appeared in the Boston Globe, Quincy (MA) Patriot-Ledger, Radio World,  EXTRA, All-Access.com, OpinionNews.com, and Radio Guide. She has also been a fact-checker and/or copy editor for several encyclopedias.

In addition to Ms. Halper’s long career in both radio and print, she is well-known for discovering the rock group Rush, who dedicated their first two albums to her.     

In the summer of 2008, Ms. Halper was hired as an Assistant Professor of Communication at Lesley University, Cambridge MA.  Prior to that, she spent 18 years as an adjunct instructor at Emerson College in Boston, where she taught in the Journalism Department and in the Institute for Liberal Arts.  Her expertise is in training future journalists and broadcasters, as well as in teaching about ethics, media stereotypes, and social history.  In 1995, she was named Emerson’s Instructor of the Year.

After many years away from being a student, Ms. Halper returned in 2002 to work on her PhD.  She is currently completing her dissertation in the Communication Department at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  From 2002-05, she taught communication and media courses, such as “Analyzing Media” and “Media Ethics,” and was nominated twice for the Distinguished Teaching Award; in 2005, she was one of the finalists.

Since 1984, Ms. Halper has been the advocate for an adult with autism; she has tutored him, and helped him to learn to speak; and along with her husband, she continues to be part of his support system.  She has also been a Big Sister and a mentor.  In her spare time, Ms. Halper collects stamps, old magazines, post-cards, and books that relate to her research in media history.  She continues to do presentations on such topics as media history, women’s history, and popular culture at museums, schools, and historical societies.    

phone:  617-786-0666;  fax:  617-786-1809;   e-mail DLH@donnahalper.com