Information:
Greetings! Welcome to this personal web site. My name is Rol Murrow and I grew up in Southern California. As you will see, my primary professional involvements are in media & communications, general aviation, and organizational development. If you want to stay in touch, send me an email message and I'll keep your address on file for occasional announcements.
(A list of links to the groups mentioned in the Bio follows it)
Canned "Official" Bio:
William Rollins Murrow ("Rol") has a wide-ranging background in high technology, management, media, and aviation. From initial work assisting in aerospace acoustics he has proceeded through his education and a career in film and video production, theatre operations, and management. Along the way his enthusiasm for aviation led from avocation to advocacy of local airports to vocation.
In the 60's Rol worked at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, an acoustical research firm. Later, during and after attending UCLA's film school, he worked on crews for various productions. He was and is a member of the multimedia group the Single Wing Turquoise Bird, which produced the visuals for the Pinnacle Productions concerts and which later gave many performances at his Cumberland Mountain Film Company studio. Their first big show was for the Cream at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles in 1967. The group's work is currently featured in retrospectives of experimental multimedia at museums worldwide, and the group is currently preparing new material for upcoming events in Los Angeles and Denver.
During the 70's he (as company president) and his partners founded and operated one of the nation's most celebrated repertory film theatres, the Fox Venice Theatre in California. In addition to presenting thousands of films from the entire history of the cinema, the theatre featured performers such as Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Mose Allison, Jerry Garcia and the Legion of Mary, John Lee Hooker, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and many others.
His production company, Cumberland Mountain, has provided a wide range of services in feature, documentary, and educational productions (titles include Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie" and Jim Bridge's "The Baby Maker"), and has also participated in aviation accident investigations and in preparing audio-visual presentations for legal cases, often for the Law Offices of Jon A. Kodani.
In 1989 Rol completed a special project as Phase I Managing Director of the Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport, guiding it through its final construction, the development of a strategic plan, design and installation of aircraft and exhibits, recruitment of an operating staff, and startup.
As an aviation advocate Rol was a leader in preserving Santa Monica Airport, serving as its association's President, and later acting as Regional Vice President of the California Aviation Council (now called the California Pilots Association) and Southern California representative for AOPA - the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. In California he was a member of the ShowHawks (an entertainment industry aviation group) and of the Experimental Aircraft Association (encouraging the formation of EAA Chapter 11 at Santa Monica Airport).
He founded and served as President of Bernoulli's Soaring Association (Tehachapi, California), and was a founding member and Director of Systems and Concepts Development for the Southern California Airspace Users Working Group, operating under the aegis of the Southern California Association of Governments and sanctioned by the Federal Aviation Administration. He worked with a team of aviation leaders to formulate a plan to redesign and reopen the VFR flight corridor over Los Angeles International Airport after its closure in 1986 and then to work on long term airspace management plans for Southern California's extremely congested airspace. He authored the working group's recommendations to the FAA for Airspace Reclassification and those recommendations were adopted by AOPA. Most were accepted by the FAA and incorporated in the current airspace classification protocols for mapping and using airspace in the United States.
A major reason for Rol's working to preserve Santa Monica Airport in the 70's and 80's was to maintain its availability for life saving operations during emergencies, especially following Southern California's expected great earthquake. As a result of what he learned, he founded and serves as President of EVAC, the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps, a national group assisting in rebuilding airports and providing voluntary transport services after disasters or during major public emergencies. EVAC works to encourage pilot groups such as volunteer pilot organizations and airport associations to prepare and adopt disaster and emergency preparedness programs. He is also a founding member and Chairman of the Air Care Alliance, a support group for more than fifty aviation groups engaged in public benefit work nationwide and internationally. He serves as an Advisor for the Aero Club of New England.
More recently he helped found the Connecticut and New York State Aerospace Education Councils and assists other state councils in his region. Even more recently he helped these groups form NASEA - the National Aviation and Space Education Alliance. He is an officer of the National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education, a central source for information and collaboration involving more than fifty associations, agencies, companies, and trade groups.
Rol also has a strong interest in preserving and promoting backcountry and recreational airstrips, providing enhanced opportunities for backpackers, fishermen, and other wilderness enthusiasts. As such he is a Director of the Recreational Aviation Foundation and also serves as its New Mexico State Liaison, and a leader of the New Mexico Recreational Aviation Committee.
From 1990 through 2000 Rol worked as a management and media consultant and as Northeastern Regional Representative for the 360,000 member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), advising agencies and officials and assisting pilots, owners, and aviation groups in a seven state area ranging from New York to Maine.
Currently Rol serves as Executive Director of the Wolf Aviation Fund, a nonprofit foundation which provides grants and disseminates information supporting general aviation and improving the public's understanding of it.
Other: Rol earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles Motion Picture and Television Division and an M.B.A. in Entertainment Management and Management Information Systems from U.C.L.A.'s Anderson Graduate School of Management. He also attended Santa Monica College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a 3000 plus hour pilot and has earned commercial, flight instructor, and glider certificates. He flies a 1958 Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Until 2005 he lived in the former thread mill town of Willimantic, Connecticut, and now - thanks to the internet - lives and works in the ranching community of Gavilan, New Mexico.
Additional information posted periodically: send an email and we'll notify you of changes!
The Wolf Aviation Fund
AOPA - the Aircraft Owner's & Pilots Association
NAA- National Aeronautic Association
SWTB - Single Wing Turquoise Bird Light Show
ACA - the Air Care Alliance
EVAC - the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps
NCAE- the National Coalition for Aviation Education
RAF - the Recreational Aviation Foundation
Fox Venice Theatre - 1973-1979
NASEA - the National Aviation and Space Education Alliance
Museum of Flying
Aero Club of New England
AVWEB - an internet source for aviation information
CUNY Brooklyn's Aeroweb Aviation Site
Landings - another aviation search site
Balancing Rock - Murrow Ranch
Gavilan, New Mexico
(click for full size photo)
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