NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A giant in the New Mexico broadcasting world has died. He was 90 years old. A trailblazer for public radio and television, Duane Ryan, served the ENMU community for nearly 50 years. He moved to Portales as an assistant professor at the university in 1967.
He helped establish both PBS in 1974 and NPR in 1978 to serve eastern New Mexico and west Texas. Countless journalism and broadcast students came through the university’s program and were enriched by their time with Ryan and the crew at the KENW Broadcast Center.
His students have gone to work in numerous newsrooms across the country including more than a dozen at KRQE News 13.
Ryan was inducted into the New Mexico Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2015 and was in the process of retiring from his role as director of broadcasting at KENW in Portales.
