BIO for Rio Arriba Task Force
Rol Murrow
William Rollins Murrow ("Rol") is a native of West Los Angeles, California. He 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, then during and after film school worked on crews for various productions. He was a member of the multimedia group the Single Wing Turquoise Bird HYPERLINK "www.swtb.info" www.swtb.info, which produced the visuals for the Pinnacle Productions concerts and which later gave many performances at the Cumberland Mountain Film Company studio.
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, Mose Allison, Jerry Garcia and the Legion of Mary, 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" (Edited in Taos, New Mexico) and National General's "The Baby Maker"), and has also participated in aviation accident investigations and in preparing audio-visual presentations for legal cases.
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, 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 Pilots Association and Southern California representative for AOPA - the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association HYPERLINK "www.aopa.org" www.aopa.org. In California he was a member of the ShowHawks (an entertainment industry aviation group) and of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
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 most of those recommendations were adopted by the FAA and incorporated in the airspace classification protocols now used in mapping and using airspace throughout 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 HYPERLINK "www.evac.org" www.evac.org, a national group promoting volunteers 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 HYPERLINK "www.aircareall.org" www.aircareall.org, a support group for more than sixty aviation groups engaged in volunteer pilot based public benefit flying nationwide and internationally.
He helped found the Connecticut and New York State Aerospace Education Councils and assisted other state councils. He is an officer of the National Coalition for Aviation Education HYPERLINK "www.aviationeducation.org" www.aviationeducation.org, a central source for information and collaboration involving more than fifty associations, agencies, companies, and trade groups. He was awarded the Crown Circle Award for achievement in aerospace education at the 2006 National Conference on Aviation and Space Education.
From 1990 through 2000 Rol worked as a management and media consultant and as Northeastern Regional Representative for the 415,000 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. He worked with state and federal aviation agencies on planning issues and helped develop noise abatement programs at a number of airports.
Currently Rol serves as Executive Director of the Wolf Aviation Fund HYPERLINK "www.wolf-aviation.org" www.wolf-aviation.org, 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 restored 1958 Cessna 172 Skyhawk. In the late 90’s he lived in the former thread mill town of Willimantic, Connecticut, and now - thanks to internet communications – enjoys living and working in the ranching community of Gavilan, New Mexico.
