Three new members have joined the board of the Association of Public Radio Engineers.
They are Ralph Hogan, a past president of both the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers; Badri Munipalla, vice president, distribution at NPR; and Ivy Sheppard, general manager of WEHC(FM), Emory, Va.
Departing after two terms are Pierre Lonewolf, Jim Gray and John George.
Returning as officers, in the same roles as last year, are Scott Hanley as president, Bill Dahlstrom as vice president, Darrell McCalla as secretary and David Antoine as treasurer. Victoria St. John is the past president.
Continuing on the board are Bruce Wahl and Bill Bennett.
At the Public Radio Engineering Conference in Las Vegas, APRE honored Michael Beach, the outgoing vice president of distribution at NPR, with its 2024 Engineering Award.
“Mike’s ongoing contributions to all of public radio have been remarkable over 10 years of dramatic change, especially in the creation and distribution of content,” President Scott Hanley said. (Watch for Radio World’s forthcoming feature on Michael Beach.)
APRE also presented its Meritorious Service Award to Jobie Sprinkle of WFAE, Charlotte, N.C., and Paxton Durham, who is retired from WVTF, Roanoke, Va.
“Active engineering professionals and former APRE board members, there are no two people more invaluable to the continued success of the PREC in their service to the Association of Public Radio Engineers,” Hanley said.
APRE also awarded scholarships to attend the conference to Darion Kootswatewa, Alina Pontius and Jasmine Ziegenhagen. Virtual conference scholarships were given to Adam Smith and Keller Henry.
Hanley said about 110 people attended the PREC.
“We are grateful for a wonderful group of industry professionals and station engineers who presented on 20 different topics including an all-star panel for our Thursday evening ‘Night Owl’ session on the topic of metadata and related issues,” he told Radio World.
“Our event is made possible by support from many industry-leading companies, including this year’s gold level sponsors Lawo, ERI and the Telos Alliance. We look forward to another great event the Thursday and Friday ahead of NAB 2025.”
