Today is my last day at KERA. After working with my colleagues for nearly 25 years to produce the best broadcasting can offer, I’m forging a new path. I will join SMU as an assistant dean at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

So before I pack up the ol’ saddle bags, I want to thank all of you listeners, viewers and Web users for trusting KERA to give you the information and context you require to keep you in the know. It’s been an honor to serve you.

For most of my career here, I’ve managed and produced news and public affairs, and I’ve loved every moment of it. Now, with KERA’s new effort to expand arts coverage, there are great opportunities for the staff to offer you more.

Although I will no longer be on staff, I’ve been given the gift of blogging here from time to time. So I’ll join in the thread of conversation as I can. Art, however you define it, can be provocative, uplifting and even disturbing. It tells us about ourselves beyond the instantaneous happenings in our lives. When we see a film, look at a sculpture, sing in a chorus or even break out in dance, we know we are alive.

I will say goodbye for now, but not for long.