WHRO Management
Bert Schmidt
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bert Schmidt joined WHRO as its President and Chief Executive Officer in May of 2007, following five years as President and General Manager of WVPT in Harrisonburg. He is the current chairman of the Virginia Association of Public Television Stations, serves on the board of the National Educational Telecommunications Association and the Virginia Network of Nonprofit Organizations, and is a past chair of the Public Broadcasting Management Association.
Bert holds a BS in accounting and finance (with honors) from Alfred University, a law degree (with honors) from Syracuse University College of Law and an MBA (with honors) from Syracuse University School of Management. Prior to coming to Virginia, he was Executive Vice President of WCNY-TV/FM in Syracuse, New York, the Vice President of Mark R. Switz, Inc., and a tax attorney with Price Waterhouse.
While at the Harrisonburg station, he developed and served as executive producer of eleven local television productions, including Consider This, recognized as the best public television news program by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters; Virginia Viewpoints, a local panel discussion of regional and national topics; and Miller Center Forums, weekly lectures from the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs, which is directed by former Governor Gerald L. Baliles. He’s the recipient of numerous other awards from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters, a Telly award, the Public Broadcasting Management Association’s Award of Excellence and the Virginia Farm Bureau’s Journalism Award.
Bert welcomes comments and questions from WHRO’s listening and viewing audiences, as well as area educators, and invites them to email him at bert.schmidt@whro.org.
Lawrence E. Crum
Chief Education Officer
Larry Crum, a peninsula native, started his education journey as a teacher in Newport News Public Schools; he began his three decade media career at WHRO initially as a Program Designer and on-camera television teacher, but soon evolved into a Producer, Film editor, and Executive Producer of award winning instructional television programs. He has contributed to programs receiving more than three dozen awards, and has been recognized with two industry national lifetime achievement awards. He helped initiate the Consortium for Interactive Instruction in 1984, the first of many steps in new technology exploration impacting educational services. He most recently helped launch the Regional Virtual School and facilitated the most recent update of the Virginia Master Plan for Public Telecommunications. Larry meets with area school Superintendents, School Board representatives, Assistant Superintendents, and content supervisors. He provides strategic information to senior WHRO management on educational technology related needs, trends, and opportunities, and assists with conceptualization and funding of new products and services.
He serves regionally on the Virginia Marine Heritage Foundation Board of Directors, Chairing the Board Education Committee; the Old Dominion University Community Advisory Board for the College of Education, represents Virginia Public Broadcasters on the Virginia Educational Technology Advisory Committee, and represents education broadcast professionals nationwide on the PBS Communications Advisory Committee.
He holds a B.S. from Old Dominion University, a Masters Degree from the College of William and Mary, and a second Masters equivalent from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Bobbie Fisher
Chief Communications Officer
Bobbie Fisher joined the staff of WHRO in June of 1996. She was named Community Relations Manager in January 2002, Director of Corporate Communications in 2005 and Chief Communications Officer in 2008.
Bobbie was a founding member of the Chrysler Museum Actors Theatre, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Norfolk Little Theatre, the Hampton Roads Chamber Players, the Women’s Center Advisory Group of Tidewater Community College, the Norfolk Host Lions Club and The TOWN Foundation (a philanthropic foundation dedicated to the advancement of education), and the Feldman Chamber Music Society. She is currently a member of the Board of the Virginia Conference for Inclusive Communities (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews).
Bobbie attended Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion College (now ODU). While a student at Old Dominion, Bobbie served on the staff of The Gadfly, the college's literary magazine. She has written for Hampton Roads Newcomer magazine; Hampton Roads Monthly; Connections, the publication of The Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads; and the alumni magazine of Regent University. She has been a reader for the WHRO Voice radio reading service for 23 years.
She is married to Randy Fisher, a violist/music educator.
Barbara L. Hamm
Chief Community Affairs Officer
Barbara Hamm has served as WHRO’s Chief Community Affairs Officer since January, 2008. She is responsible for local television productions and programming and serves as back-up host for HearSay, the award winning noon talk show heard on 89.5WHRV-FM.
Barbara joined WHRO as Chief Communications Officer in March, 2006. In that capacity, she was responsible for all aspects of station communications, and had charge of television programming and community outreach as well.
Prior to joining WHRO, she served as Director of Corporate Communications for Communications Technologies, Inc. Chantilly, Virginia. She has also directed the Office of Communications of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Police Department, and was owner of Hamm & Fox Communications, Inc., a media relations firm based in Norfolk specializing in crisis media management, media training, marketing and community outreach. Throughout her career, she has been a media consultant to commercial institutions, military and non-profit organizations in and around Hampton Roads, including a stint as coordinator of WHRO’s Colors All Our Own race relations initiative. She is a former Director of Station Relations and News Director for WTKR TV.
John J. Heimerl
Chief Enterprise Officer
John Heimerl has spent 4 decades in media, beginning with 5 years in Educational Broadcasting, Radio and Television, at York High School, Yorktown, Virginia, and the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He also worked in historical productions such as “the Lost Colony” where he served as Technical Assistant, Sound Director, and Assistant Lighting Director in the late 1960’s. He was the recipient of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters annual Scholarship award to augment his studies. He then built and programmed radio stations and cable TV systems and produced radio programming for 15 years in diverse markets such as Norfolk, Chattanooga, Richmond, Huntsville, Charleston and Pittsburgh. In 1981 he was one of the founding partners of Video Wizards, a video production company which specialized in early productions for cable including commercial and non-commercial programs and interstitials. In 1984 he launched Fine Tuning Associates, an independent technical services company which maintained and built both radio and TV technical facilities in the Eastern and Central United States.
After the sale of both companies, in 1993 John returned to educational broadcasting at WHRO, where his roles have included Chief Transmission Engineer, Chief Technical Officer, General Manager, and Chief Enterprise Officer. He was awarded the Jerry Freeman Award for Technical Excellence in 1997 by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. His executive production credits at WHRO include the Emmy-nominated “Civil War in Hampton Roads- 1861”, “Jamestown 2007- Founding of America” to be released nationwide in October, and live local TV remote specials such as “After BRAC: What Now for Ft. Monroe?”. He serves on the Board of the Tidewater Chapter 54 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.
Virginia Thumm
Chief Development Officer
Virginia has been with WHRO since August 2004 and has a strong history of experience as a senior manager in non-profit organizations, including extensive fundraising experience.
Prior to joining WHRO, Virginia served as Director of Development of the Virginia Symphony. She served nearly seven years as Executive Director of the Governor’s School for the Arts Foundation; and as Senior Executive Consultant for the Kellogg Organization, where she was resident consultant on the Virginia Zoo’s capital campaign. In addition, she is a past Director of Development for both the Virginia Opera and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York.
A native of Norfolk, she has served on many area non-profit boards, including the Governor’s School for the Arts Foundation, where she currently serves as President. She is an alumnus of the CIVIC Leadership Institute and a member of the vestry of St. Andrew’s Church in Norfolk.
Carol L. Vollbrecht
Chief Financial Officer, WHRO
Carol L. Vollbrecht is responsible for the financial management of the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc. dba WHRO and its related organization, The WHRO Foundation. In addition, she serves as the Assistant Treasurer of WHRO. Carol offers strategic financial analysis to senior management and the Boards of Directors, and directs the financial administration of the organizations.
She began her career as an auditor in public accounting in Houston, Texas. From there, she entered the non-profit sector with a move to the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, where she served as their Finance Officer. Her next non-profit position was as Controller at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Following that, she came here to WHRO on September 1, 2004.
Carol is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a graduate of Marquette University with a B.S. in Business Administration. In addition, she completed accounting courses at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
WHRO Boards of Directors
| Governing Board | WHRO Foundation | Honorary Directors | Community Advisory Group |
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Dr. Elizabeth L. Young, Chair
Jack L. Ezzell, Vice Chair
Decker Anstrom, Secretary
Dr. Carol S. Beers, Treasurer
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Bert Schmidt, President & Chief Executive Officer
Margaret Blackwell
David Brashear
Colin G. Campbell
Arthur L. Collins
Gerald S. Divaris
William M. Grace
David Iwans
Kirkland M. Kelley
Henry D. Light |
Dr. Edward L. Lilly
Dr. Milton Liverman
Charles W. Moorman
Barry Pollara
Anita O. Poston
Ronald K. Ritter
Conway H. Sheild
Dr. Steven R. Staples
Dr. William E. Ward
Dr. G. William Whitehurst
Dr. Patricia Woodbury
Maria Zammit
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Charles W. Moorman, Chair
Dr. Robert M. Rubin, Vice Chair
Tom Mountjoy, Treasurer
Nancy Branch, Secretary
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David Beatty
Kathryn Copeland
Philip Hatchett
Mary S. Hearring
Barbara Johnsen
Ernest Lendman
Charles E. Penn
Barry Pollara
Anita O. Poston
Conway H. Sheild
Dr. S. Keith Sutton
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Dr. Elizabeth L. Young
Henry D. Light
Edward L. Lilly, M.D.
Charles E. Penn
Barry Pollara
Anita O. Poston
Suzy Reigel
Conway H. Shield, III
S. Keith Sutton, M.D.
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Patsy C. Blackwell
Raymond B. Bottom, Jr.
Harrol A. Brauer
Jean C. Bruce
Joshua P. Darden
John A. Fahey
William M. Grace |
Lois S. Hornsby
W. MacKenzie Jenkins, Jr.
Frederick V. Martin
Dr. McKinley Price
Joyce H. Strelitz
Vincent J Thomas
Dr. G. William Whitehurst |
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Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander
Bev Sell
Rabbi Michael Panitz
Dr. S. Dawn Goldstine
Betty Wade Coyle
Richard E. Hoehlein
Joanna K. Schlabaugh
Denise Goode
Christine Royster Jones
Bruce Ebert
Missy Blankenship
Shelia Barber |
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