Northwest to dedicate radio studio to longtime program director, general manager

Sharon Cross-Bonnett

The Northwest Missouri State University community is invited to join the staff of its National Public Radio affiliate for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the renaming of the broadcast studio to honor a longtime leader of the radio station.

KXCV will host the ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. Friday, May 9, at its second-floor studio in Wells Hall, to dedicate the Sharon Cross-Bonnett Studio.

Cross-Bonnett, a 1965 Northwest graduate, served as a producer, program director and general manager of KXCV during a span of 34 years until her retirement in 2006. She died in 2023.

During her tenure with the radio station, she expanded the station's coverage area by launching KRNW, a repeater station in Chillicothe; provided audio reader services for the visually impaired; and launched the Bearcat Radio Network. In addition, she extended KXCV's broadcast schedule to 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. She also oversaw the installation of a new tower and digital conversion project that provides digital broadcasting to northwest Missouri.

She was the recipient of several Missouri Broadcast Association awards as well as two national Corporation for Public Broadcasting awards. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Northwest Alumni Association's Public Service Award.