Steetle, Ralph W.

Ralph W. Steetle was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1912. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended schools there, graduating from Collinwood High School in 1930. Steetle then enrolled in Cleveland State University's cooperative education plan studying electrical engineering. In 1934, he transferred to Louisiana State University, and graduated in 1936 with a major in radio broadcasting. He continued his studies at Louisiana State, receiving a master's degree in linguistics in 1938. As a graduate fellow, Steetle taught broadcasting and produced university programs on local stations and the state network. During this time, he participated in a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities, in which he interacted with various networks and educational institutions in New York City. After completing his studies, Steetle remained at Louisiana State as the first director of broadcasting in the extension division and as instructor of broadcasting in the Department of Speech.

In 1941, Steetle left Louisiana State University for war service leave to the Department of State in Washington, DC. There, he served as officer in charge of exchange programs in the Division of Cultural Relations, helping to set departmental policy governing production activities of emergency war agencies. Then, from 1942 to 1944, he accepted a commission in the United States Navy, participating in the Navy's Fleet Training Command. Upon conclusion of the war in 1945, Steetle returned to Louisiana State University and helped build WLSU, one of the first educational FM stations in the south. At this time, he also became the regional director of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters.

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