Tobias Poole

Broadcasting professional Tobias Poole acts as a key figure behind Temple University’s public classical and jazz radio station, WRTI-FM. As Operating Director, Mr. Poole answers for all aspects of the station’s operations, including employee performance, quality of broadcasting, engineering, and programming. Tobias Poole also accomplished two major wins for the station when he lobbied to replace WRTI-FM’s antenna and move it to an adjacent tower and managed to get a full-power digital repeater activated in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, to carry public radio service to the city’s nearly 35,000 residents for the first time. Tobias Poole started his career in Ohio, where he acted as a Radio and Television Engineer for WOUB-AM/FM and TV in Athens, WTLW-TV in Lima, and WOUZ-FM in Zanesville. When Mr. Poole joined WRTI-FM in 1987 as a staffer, the station was just beginning expansion with repeater stations such as WRTQ, WRTX, WJAZ, WRTL, and WRTY, which extended coverage into northeastern and central Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Mr. Poole remembers when the station changed its programming format in 1997 to play classical music in the daytime and jazz at night. Today, Tobias Poole proudly reports that WRTI-FM exists as not just one of the area’s top-rated public radio stations, but one of the nation’s, as well. Tobias Poole enjoys a diverse host of duties as Operating Director. He must make many big decisions, and he handles them all through his technical expertise and excellent professional judgment. Tobias Poole exhibits outstanding ability to manage projects and a full staff, and his extensive knowledge of university procedures and policies facilitates his supervisory duties immensely. Tobias Poole began his education at Ohio University in 1980, where he earned his Associate in Applied Science in 1982. Mr. Poole stayed at Ohio University to pursue his Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications Broadcast Engineering, which he completed in 1984. When Tobias Poole is not running WRTI-FM or teaching courses as an Adjunct Professor in Temple University’s Department of Broadcasting Telecommunications and Mass Media, he pursues physical activities such as working out to maintain a healthy lifestyle. A lifetime member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Mr. Poole also formerly served on the board for Musicopia. Away from his regular job, he works for the National Football League as a Frequency Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.