Ben Fry

Ben Fry has served as General Manager of UALR Public Radio since 1995. He oversees all aspects of administration and operations at KLRE and KUAR, including financial management, engineering, programming and fundraising. Ben joined the UALR Public Radio staff in 1988 as News & Information Director and served as Program Director for one year prior to becoming GM.

His broadcasting career began in his hometown of Wynne, Ark., where he worked weekends at the local radio station while he was still in high school. In 1980, he came to Little Rock to attend UALR and got a part time job with commercial radio station KARN as an announcer. By 1983, he had been promoted to a full time position, as the station's Creative Director, writing and producing commercials. Ben estimates that he wrote more than 3,000 commercials during his time at KARN, which is one of the many reasons he's glad to be working in public radio. 

He received a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1987 and a master's degree in journalism in 1998. 

Ben is an adjunct professor in UALR's School of Mass Communication, teaching classes in motion picture history, criticism and screenwriting, and serves as the School's coordinator of film studies. He has made presentations about motion pictures at several local events and has written articles about Arkansas film history for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He hosts a movie show on UALR's University Television, Home Fry-ed Movies, screening public domain movies and providing commentary.

Ben is married and has two children. His wife Karen is a therapist at The Centers for Youth and Families. His daughter Sarah is a graduate of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., and his son Sam attends Central High School in Little Rock.

Phone:
501-569-8489

E-mail: