Russell Macias | Staff Writer
Oct. 20, 2022
Don Maue is the director of the Center for Emerging and Innovative Media. He is also professor teaching classes such as Sound Design and a digital content creation practicum at Duquesne University. He has been with Duquesne since 1998, arriving as the director of the university’s computer support systems.
Prior to his arrival, Maue had a long past working in the private sector, including as the lead global technologist director for Burson-Marstellar from 1994-1998, along with being a well-known producer and on-air host for WQED-FM and WYEP-FM in Pittsburgh radio. Additionally, he had worked for the George H.W. Bush campaign as what essentially became a technologist strategist in campaigns today.
According to Maue, despite his diverse background, his job has primarily always been an educator. He was constantly doing professional education in private industry, and always been a trainer/educator his whole life.
“Everything I know is useless without giving it to someone.”
Maue stressed is the most important thing he does is teaching.
“At the end of the day, you are the one who gets yourself a job. A piece of paper is great and all, but most employers are going to look at it once and then toss it aside, and interview you and make you prove that you can make the company better, that you have intrinsic value, beyond what a piece of paper says.”
Combining various statistics show that despite the world being in a video society, audio-only content is surging in popularity, whether with podcasts or YouTube videos with static images. Maue said the opportunity students now have with all these resources is to learn post production, learn delivery, learn how to market and gain many skills.
That is why at Duquesne, Maue has overhauled the previously existing radio and tv stations at Duquesne in the last few years. He took it upon himself to give Duquesne students’ a truly unique radio station that is life 24/7/365.
“There are jobs there, you can work independently or for a company, it’s a massive resume builder, everyone should have a podcast. Everyone.”
The overall process for revamping the studio was one that began with little.
“[It was]a huge studio with tons of useless things, mostly useless things even.”
Maue set out and got green screens for the TV station, so the broadcast can appear to be where and everywhere. Then, his technological background kicked in. He set up fiber optic cables, enabling live 24/7 radio streaming with an easily accessible website to listen to. It took an entire summer for this to all come together.
Then, Duquesne unveiled the brand new Union Broadcast Center, in the Student Union, which is also connected via fiber optics to the College Hall Studios and is accessible for use all day.
All of this is just to prepare students and give them opportunities, Maue said
As a professor, Maue has a unique philosophy.
“In my classrooms, there is nobody elevated, I’m not above the students. We are peers. I will never say, ‘I taught you’ rather, ‘I worked with you.’ It’s the opposite of knowledge dumping, it’s the transfer of knowledge.” Maue said.
Maue’s work at Duquesne isn’t limited to just students on campus. He sees himself as a recruiter, someone who needs to get as many people on campus as he can. This semester Maue is going to meet with 38 students from Italy to show them Duquesne and pitch them on coming here to further their education. In the summertime, he will be doing the same thing with 42 Japanese students visiting Pittsburgh.
Maue has endless connections to every Pittsburgh radio station along with the Burson Company, IBM, and other tech companies. He makes it his job to be able to help students secure internships and long term jobs and set them up for their future success.
For Maue, that is what he cares about. He cares about every single student on the Bluff, and he wants them all to reach their maximum potential. He feels he has so much to give because of his life experiences, and his overall technological prowess and never ending connections in the private sector.
“The single most important thing I can possibly do in this life is to give away everything I know to somebody, and let them take it further than I ever could.”