Scott Wager

Scott Wager, who helped put College of DuPage's WDCB-FM (90.9) on the air in 1977 and has led the public radio/jazz outlet for more than 30 years, is retiring as station manager. His last day will be July 31.

"We tried to build a good staff over the years and work hard to fine-tune the programming content," Wager told me Wednesday. "We always thought of WDCB as an 'island of difference' within the Chicago market dominated by pop music stations and talk, maintaining our focus on an American art form — jazz — and presenting that to an audience."

Wager's departure comes two months after Mary Pat LaRue stepped down as program director of WDCB, a post she held since 1984. A search is on for Wager's successor, who will report to the College of DuPage's vice president of information technology.

"We've been very gratified at the audience response in the Chicago market, while the stream audience [atwww.wdcb.org] has grown really well," Wager said. "We've had ongoing conversations with people not only across the country but around the world. I'm very excited about what we've been able to achieve, particularly within the past 10 years. It's been a great run."

The west suburban Glen Ellyn station, which bills itself as "Chicagoland's Choice For Jazz, Blues, News and More," also is the home of such eclectic programming as Steve Darnall's "Those Were the Days" old-time radio showcase, John Russell Ghrist's "Midwest Ballroom," Bruce Oscar's "Swing Shift," Victor Parra's "Mambo Express" and "The Wayne Messmer Radio Show."