Timothy Clukey

Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies

Tim Clukey is a graduate of the SUNY system, having attended both Clinton Community College (’90) and SUNY Plattsburgh (’97). He completed his Master’s in Corporate Communications at Ithaca College (’99) and was awarded the 1999 Graduate Faculty Department Award, which named him as one of the top three students in the communication graduate program.

Tim has been involved in communication, computer, and music technologies throughout his life. He started learning the piano at age five, built his first synthesizer at age 16, programmed his first MIDI-configuration the year it was introduced (’81), and continued working in various musical groups for another 20 years. He also spent 23 years as the music coordinator and organist for the SUNY Plattsburgh Ice Hockey program (1987-2009).

Tim began focusing his interest in radio communication as an undergraduate student at SUNY Plattsburgh in the mid-nineties. He worked for WPLT (now WQKE) and the Northeast Radio Reading Service, as a news announcer and production engineer. After completing his Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications, he continued his radio training as a Park Fellow at Ithaca College, working for VIC and WICB, which broadcast to southwestern New York State. While completing his Master’s of Science degree, he worked as a communication specialist — producing an extensive radio campaign for the Tompkins County Drowsy Driving Coalition.

Professor Clukey joined the SUNY Plattsburgh staff in Fall ’99 as an adjunct professor, teaching audio, radio, and multimedia production courses. He began his full-time faculty work the following year, with the goal of expanding the audio and digital media production program within the Department of Communication. He has been involved with the Broadcast Educators Association, where he chaired the Faculty Interactive Multimedia Competition for several years. He has written for various technology and music journals including the Music Educators Journal, the online Web Design & Review magazine, and the international publication Sound On Sound magazine. During the summer, Tim has spent 15 years as an educator for the Plattsburgh Upward Bound Program. He is also on the board of the Northern New York American Canadian Genealogical Society.

Tim has stayed active in the production arena. He has been involved with SUNY Plattsburgh’s Special Collections media, completing digital audio archival and restoration work for both music and oral history files (including Robert Frost lectures, the Franklin County archives, and the Marjorie Lansing Porter Collection). His archival work on the Marjorie Lansing Porter Collection is now a part of the Smithsonian’s archival collections in Washington, D.C.

Tim's album cover Tim’s latest audio production efforts involved researching, recording, and producing an album of selected ragtime songs. This was a concept album where he hoped to present songs from 100 years ago captured on the media format that was just becoming popular 100 years ago — vinyl. Completed as a case study for his CMM464 Digital Audio Recording Applications course, the album was released on vinyl (Nov. 2015), on CD, and as a digital download. The album was nominated for an Independent Music Award in the Tribute Album Category.

Tim’s teaching philosophy involves helping students to move beyond the boundaries of textbooks and exams, encouraging them to explore new avenues of understanding and experience through the application of technology. His classes frequently incorporate hands-on opportunities, providing experiential learning components that involve students with a variety of on- and off-campus organizations.

In the fall of 2016, Tim took on the role of chair for the Department of Communication Studies. He’s hoping to continue the efforts of the previous chair, Dr. Shakuntala Rao, by keeping the department focused on updating curriculum and technology components. Tim stated, “I hope to provide students with unique avenues of opportunity where they’ll find success. That’s now become a part of the ’student experience’ at SUNY Plattsburgh.” Tim also supervises the department’s student-operated radio station — WARP Radio, and advises the student-run campus radio station — WQKE FM.