Rick Sallinger’s WPGU colleagues readily recall their music director and program director as a person with big dreams. Guiding the station as it moved from a closed-circuit to a commercial enterprise, Sallinger built consensus to make WPGU a market competitor. The radio station began airing commentaries for the first time under his leadership. Sallinger got his professional start in news radio, and he’s reported for WMAQ-TV (Chicago) and CNN. He’s currently a reporter at CBS4 (Denver). Sallinger is a highly regarded broadcast journalist who has covered the Columbine (Colo.) High School shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and three wars. His work has earned him, among other honors, a Peabody award.

This bio was written at the time of Rick Sallinger’s inauguration into the 2022 Illini Media Hall of Fame.