Many professors at Kansas State have a lot of hidden talents, outside of instructing a mass amount of people. Ian Punnett is one of those professors. Ian currently teaches in the AQ. Miller School and is a chief operator/faculty advisor for KSDB-FM. Born in Wilmette, Illinois in 1960, Ian lived a few doors down from the famous early 90's movie, "Home Alone." He attended a well known performing arts high school, which had an excellent theater department, tv station, and its own radio station. "Media was much more limited back then," Ian says. Growing up in a household were everyone enjoyed tv, radio, print media, home movies, and cassette tapes. Ian had a variety of media to spark his interest. "Radio was the best way to hear new music, and my older brother always had cool, 'underground' FM rock stations on in our rooms," Ian states. During a time where there were only a few forms of media and limited people supplying media. Ian says, "...there were three legendary AM stations fighting for control of Chicago; the best music was on FM…" "I thought Top 40 deejays sounded like fast-talking used car salesmen," Ian said, being someone who is all about music. After years of consuming media at home in many different forms, Ian reflects on a time where he had that chance outside of his house. "In 7th grade, the son of one of those famous Chicago Top 40 jocks transferred to the small, suburban private school I attended," Ian reflects. He continues, " He was really funny and loved to do these little improvs at recess and in between classes." Taking part in those little improvs done in their spare time, Ian says, "Soon I was hanging out at his house where we recorded these little bits into his tape recorder and laughed like fools." The following year in 8th grade, "...my parents were broke, so I transferred to the large performing arts high school with a radio station," Ian said. He started a show with his friend who he used to do skits with, but after about a year, his friend stopped. Ian continued until he graduated High School. Ian acquired his first high school show in 1974 as a freshman. Radio was not always how Ian pictured himself. At a very young age, Ian says, "...I can remember I used to sit at the foot of my stairs after I was supposed to be asleep, listening to "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Being so young, he did not always understand some of the jokes but realized comedy might be the route for him. Though, from doing radio so much in High School, Ian became more and more comfortable doing it alone and started paying attention to more and more radio personalities as his interest in music tapered off. John Records Landecker, who was a radio host and Peter B Collins who was a late-night talk show host; two personalities that he followed closely. Ian is a professor, husband, and father who has a lot to fulfilling stories. When asked about the most exciting thing radio has lead him to do, Ian says, "...cohosting a daily, local morning radio show with my wife and hosting a national talk show to millions of listeners worldwide on the weekend from a studio in my house. That worldwide radio show Ian refers to is "Coast to Coast AM," which airs seven nights a week from 1 A.M. to 5 A.M. "Not many people get to do either in life, and I got to do both every week," Ian said graciously. Having been involved with radio for over 35 years, Ian has met, interviewed, and befriended many celebrities. Before his passing, McLean Stevenson was interview on WGN in Chicago by Ian. According to Ian, they hit it off immediately. "I really thought we'd be friends for life…" Ian says, "...but he went into surgery for something relatively safe and died on the table," Ian went on to say. Involved with so many things from an early age, meeting so many people, and having success with his own shows. How does a much with so much success en up at K-State? "Getting a job in academia is fairly transparent and mundane process," Ian says. "K-State ran an ad on a well-known college job website for somebody who could run the station, teach radio, teach journalism and innovate new programs," Ian continued to say. All of which Ian is more than qualified to do. Ian had an interview over Skype, was flown out, and offered the job pretty quickly.oInvolving himself with many students and running a station, he keeps busy. When Ian does have some free time, he fills in on "Coast to Coast" at most three times a week, perform as a guest on other podcasts and write commercial entertainment products. All more than enough to keep someone busy throughout the day. Ian continues to work until the day he either chooses to retire or no longer offered meaning work. However, until then, he plans to be in it for the long haul with Kansas State University. Professors have stories too, taking the time out to speak with Ian Punnett and listen to his experiences is worth wild. I invite everyone to take a little time out to get to know the people who dedicate their time to teaching students. You never know what you could learn.
