Randall Davidson, M.B.A.

Senior Lecturer Emeritus
Email: davidsor@uwosh.edu

M.B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.B.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Randall Davidson was the Director of Radio Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh from August 2008 until his retirement in September 2020. Before joining UWO he spent 18 years with Wisconsin Public Radio in Madison, where he was a news producer and the network’s afternoon newscaster. He also was the network’s chief announcer, training new announcers and filling in on music programs where needed, most often on Simply Folk, the network’s weekly folk music program. In addition to his on air work, Davidson also served as the unofficial historian of WPR, answering listener questions about the early years and keeping track of historical artifacts and collections relating to the network’s history. His book on the topic, “9XM Talking: WHA Radio and the Wisconsin Idea” was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2006. It was honored by the Wisconsin State Historical Society as the best book on Wisconsin history published that year.

Davidson’s broadcasting work has won awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association and the Broadcast Education Association has honored him for an academic paper he co-authored. In 2014, his work as an educator was recognized when he was named a recipient of UWO’s Edward M. Penson Distinguished Teaching Award.

Davidson is a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association’s Education Committee and also serves as a contest judge for the Illinois Broadcasters Association, Public Radio News Directors, Inc., and the New York International Radio Festival; Davidson serves this latter organization as a member of its grand jury.

Davidson began his radio career at UW Oshkosh’s station WRST-FM. While in college, he worked as a disk jockey at Appleton commercial station WHBY-AM and while in graduate school in Madison, he reported for United Press International. He is a native of Neenah, Wisconsin.