Leading a Life with Purpose

 A natural leader.  A mission-driven leader.  A compassionate leader.  

Whether on a college campus or leading a transitional living center Russ Read has impacted people and changed lives.

Russ retired this month as CEO of Beacon House Aftercare in Louisville, Kentucky, a long-term home for men overcoming alcohol and drug addiction.  It’s work he described as “very, very rewarding—and very, very frustrating.” 

The role was far removed from college radio, television production, and broadcast engineering— industries where he spent most of his professional career.

A Louisville native from a large Catholic family, Russ arrived at Xavier University already interested in media and performance.  Theater at Trinity High School had pointed him toward broadcasting, and Xavier’s Communication Arts program made the decision easy.  Then he discovered WVXU.

The Best Thing

WVXU-FM had just debuted on the public airwaves, transitioning from a closed-circuit station in the ‘60s into a student-run FM broadcaster, though it boasted  only 10 watts. 

During freshman orientation, Russ walked to the basement of Altar Hall, saw the radio station, and knew exactly where he belonged.  

“The best thing that ever happened to me,” he says. 

Russ quickly bonded with upper classmates, Larry Holt and Guy Hempel.

“He picked up on things very quickly and was always willing to help.  Russ could be relied upon to get things done. He also had this great sense of  humor; he was just fun to work with.”

“My most cherished memories are down in the basement, in the production studio,” Russ explained “I probably spent two-thirds of my college life in that station.”

A natural leader, Read was WVXU’s Operations Director by his junior year.  

“He was solid as a rock, very dependable,” according to Tom Stevens, the Station Manager.  “If Russ was involved in a project, you knew it was going to get done.”

Russ, himself, was appointed the Station Manager as a senior in 1974.  Bill Rogers was his Operations Director. 

“Russ inspired professionalism. We were a student-operated radio station and certainly had fun, but he set high standards for the radio station.

“One of the most innovative things Russ did was jerry-rig a seven-second audio delay system. He threaded a single length of tape through two reel-to-reel machines: one recorded the caller’s voice, while a second machine, positioned far enough away to create the necessary lag, played it back.  Talk about making creative use of limited resources!”

Turning Research into Reach

In October of 1974, the FCC granted the radio station’s request to install a new antenna, change the transmission line and move it higher on the tower.   In doing so, WVXU was able to increase its power to 65 watts.

It was only the first step in WVXU’s push for more power.

That same year Xavier sought to expand the radio station's signal to 16,000 watts.  No small task, it required FCC approval, university funding, and meticulous research. Russ and fellow student Mike Geis took it on as their senior capstone project.  

Professor Jay Adrick was their advisor.  

“It was a critical time for the future of WVXU.  Mike and Russ assembled the necessary information and documentation to apply for a Construction Permit (CP) from the FCC to increase the Effective Radiated Power (ERP).”

After months of study and spirited Radio-TV Committee meetings, the data convinced the university.  But the FCC said the radio station’s stronger signal would cause an “undesirable overlap” with another station. 

“We went back with a revision that was based on 6390 watts ERP which was approved," recounted Adrick..

Following FCC review and approval, WVXU-FM increased its power in November, 1976, delivering a 60% jump in listeners and significantly expanded coverage.

“That was the first real business proposal I ever wrote,” Read says. “I had no idea at the time.”  It would not be the last.

After graduating from Xavier University in 1975 with a degree in Communication Arts, Read’s career followed the evolving edge of broadcast media: television production, engineering, digital video, and marketing roles in Cincinnati, Columbus, Charlotte, and Louisville.  He opened the first digital television and film production company in Charlotte, and while working as a broadcast product manager for Harris Corporation, was assigned to Jay Adrick’s business unit.  Along the way, Russ earned two Regional Emmy Awards.

Six years ago, Russ, Jay, and three classmates created TEDI, The Endowment for Digital Innovation at XU.  It supports the Digital Innovation, Film and Television (DIFT) program, the successor to Communication Arts. 

Join the TEDI team to support DIFT.   Click to Connect

Compassion with Accountability

In 2007, his life changed course.

“That’s when I quit drinking,” Read says plainly.

Now nineteen years sober, Read gradually became involved in addiction recovery advocacy and support work. He saw firsthand how misunderstood addiction remained and how difficult long-term recovery could be for many people.

“By going to a lot of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, I learned how to communicate about the disease.  Not only with people in addiction, but the people who thought that addiction was a choice.” 

Eventually, he joined Beacon House Aftercare, first as executive director and later as CEO.  

“The Beacon House provides a positive, safe, and accountable environment for men to overcome alcohol and drug addiction and learn to live productive lives,” he says.

“(Russ) understands addiction and recovery not just academically or professionally, but personally,” said Operations Director Deborah Jennings.  “That lived experience helped shape the recovery-centered and peer-supported philosophy of Beacon House,”

Brad Palmer, a Senior Manager of Residential Support, knows “Russ is in charge.   And with Russ the residents come first.”   

Under Read’s leadership, the organization strengthened its outpatient treatment partnerships and expanded recovery support programs designed to improve long

-term success.

It’s a program that’s working.  Just ask a few former residents.

“Russ helped create an environment that balanced compassion with accountability,” 

recalled Deborah.  “He interacted regularly with the men who live at Beacon House.”

“It’s very, very rewarding,” he says. “And very, very frustrating. You get attached. Sometimes people slip. But you keep trying to help people stay alive long enough to have another chance.”

To strengthen his understanding of recovery work, Read returned to school in 2013 and earned a Master of Arts in Communication from Bellarmine University with a concentration in addiction prevention and treatment.  

He later became a Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist and co-founded the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition which “engages, educates, and empowers first responders, police, firefighters, treatment centers, and others closely involved with those suffering from substance use disorder, “

Russ and his wife, Terri, are deeply involved in their Holy Trinity parish, where Bishop Mark Spalding served as pastor.

“I had the honor to serve alongside him at Mass and Baptisms. He taught me through his leadership, experience and spirituality.  The Bishop’s favorite passage was Luke 12:48, ‘To whom much is given, much will be required.’ I will be eternally grateful.”

Read’s work and dedication earned him Holy Trinity’s 2019 Peace Medal for outstanding humanitarian achievement in Kentucky.   

“An outstanding example of someone who has honored the dignity of all people, Russ has demonstrated his compassion for the marginalized of our society.  Through his dedication to education, empowerment and advocacy, he has touched and enriched the lives of many.”

One year later, Russ was recognized as an outstanding Catholic school alumnus by the Catholic Education Foundation of the Archdiocese of Louisville.  He is an active member of the Trinity Alumni Association and a member of the archdiocesan Catholic high school Hall of Fame.  

When Russ stepped onto the Xavier campus in 1971, he entered a Jesuit institution dedicated to forming men and women for others — people committed to changing the world for the better.  Five decades later, classmates, colleagues, and the men of Beacon House can attest that Russ Read did just that.

Editor’s Note:  Russ and I were classmates in Xavier's Communication Arts program, learning to run a radio station, produce television programs, and work together. From the beginning, his compassion and natural leadership stood out.  Five decades later, they still do. Russ has shown me again and again there is “true good’ in this world.    My friend, Russ Read, is that.