2012 CQ Hall of Fame inductees

CQ magazine announced its 2012 Hall of Fame inductees on May 18, welcoming 16 new members into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, three new members of the CQ DX Hall of Fame and two new members of the CQ Contest Hall of Fame.

The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honors those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to Amateur Radio, as well as those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to Amateur Radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet. The CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame honor those amateurs who not only excel in personal performance in these major areas of Amateur Radio but who also “give back” to Amateur Radio in outstanding ways.

George Badger, W6TC (SK) — An expert in tubes and tube circuit designs, Badger was the marketing director of Eimac and later, president of Svetlana. He was also an active DXer and wrote many technical articles for the Amateur Radio media, including 26 articles for QST and Ham Radio. He passed away in 2009.

Bill Brown, WB8ELK — “Father” of Amateur Radio high-altitude ballooning. Hiswork has blossomed into “near-space” programs not only among hams but at many universities around the nation. The June 1989 issue of Ham Radiofeatured his article “Helium Balloon ATV Launched over Indiana.”

Robert Brown, NM7M (SK) — A retired physics professor at the University of California, Brown was an expert on 160 meter propagation. He wrote articles forCQ and 12 articles for the ARRL from 1998-2001 that appeared in QST, QEXand NCJ, most of them — such as this December 1999 QST article — dealing with propagation and contesting on the low bands. He also authored an HF propagation tutorial that is available online. He passed away in 2010.

Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR — Named an Honorary ARRL Vice President in 2002, Gauzens — a former ARRL Southeastern Division Vice Director — served as the chairman of the Miami “Tropical Hamboree” hamfest for 45 years. She is an active proponent of improved Amateur Radio public relations and was the principal on-site organizer (on behalf of the ARRL as the host IARU Member-Society) of the 1976 IARU Region 2 conference in Miami Beach.

Richard Garriott, W5WKQ — A video game designer and a civilian space traveler, Garriott was very active on Amateur Radio from the International Space Station in 2008. He is the younger half of first US father-son team to travel in space. His father — Owen Garriott, W5LFL — was the first astronaut to operate Amateur Radio from space; he was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2001.

William W. Hansen (SK) — Known as the “Father of Microwave Electronics,” Hansen invented technology such as the cavity resonator and the klystron tube, making microwave communications possible. He was a collaborator in the development of the first linear accelerator and nuclear magnetic resonance, the basis for MRI medical imaging. He passed away in 1949.

Richard Kirby, W0LCT/HB9BOA (SK) — Director of the ITU’s International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), 1974-1995, Kirby helped to develop global standards for HDTV, digital audio broadcasting and mobile and satellite communications. He was previously the Director of the Institute of Telecommunication Sciences, the Associate Director of the US Department of Commerce Office of Telecommunications, the Chief of Ionospheric Research and the Chief of Radio Communications Systems Division (both part of the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). He passed away in 2012.

Fred Maia, W5YI (SK) — One of the architects of Volunteer Examiner program adopted by the FCC in 1984, Maia was the first FCC-designated Volunteer Examiner Coordinator. A long-time CQ columnist, he was also the editor/publisher of The W5YI Report. He passed away in 2012.

Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML – Beginning in 1976, Mendelsohn began his tenure as the Communications Director of the New York City Marathon, a post he continues in today. A former ARRL First Vice President and Hudson Division Director, he led the ARRL’s effort to rewrite Part 97 in the late 1980s. Along with his wife Heidi, Mendelsohn serves as the Game Day Frequency Coordinator for the New York Jets and was featured on the cover of theNovember 2007 issue of QST for his work in that program.

Larry Mulvehill, WB2ZPI — A photojournalist who has covered major news events around the world for more than 50 years, Mulvehill has served as theCQ cover photographer for more than 30 years.

Rowley Shears, G8KW (SK) — The founder of KW Electronics in the United Kingdom, Shears helped to re-establish Amateur Radio in Germany after World War II. He passed away in 2009.

Mike Staal, K6MYC – Antenna expert and co-founder of KLM and M2 Antennas.

Frederick Terman (ex-6FT, W6AE, W6XH) (SK) — Known as the “Father of Silicon Valley,” Terman was a microwave pioneer, who with partner with William Hansen (see above), developed microwave communications and the linear accelerator. He passed away in 1982.

Patrick Tice, WA0TDA – For more than 20 years, Tice has served as the Manager of the Courage HandiHam System. Through this organization, Tice has coordinated a nationwide program to provide training and assistance, helping thousands of people with disabilities become radio amateurs.

Louis Varney, G5RV (SK) — Varney was the inventor of the G5RV antenna, one of the most popular and widely used “all around” multi-band antennas in the world. He passed away in 2000.

William A. Wilson, K6ARO (SK) – When formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See (the Vatican) were re-established in 1984 (after an almost-100 year absence), President Ronald Reagan appointed Wilson as its first US Ambassador (they had been cut in 1867). Wilson passed away in 2009.

The CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame honor those amateurs who not only excel in personal performance in these major areas of Amateur Radio, but who also “give back” to the hobby in outstanding ways.

Jim Reisert, AD1C — For the past decade, Reisert has maintained and updated the country and prefix files that are used by all of the major contest and general logging programs, as well as software for the major DX clusters.

Lothar “Lar” Wilke, DL3TD (SK) — In the 1970s, Wilke built a contest station in East Germany that operated over the years as Y24UK, Y34K, DF0HQ, DA0HQ and DL3TD. After the fall of the Berlin wall, he was the driving force in the foundation of a new and independent radio club in the German Democratic Republic and then became its president. Lothar was instrumental in the merger of Radio Sport Verband (RSV) and the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC), Germany’s IARU Member-Society. Under his leadership, the German national team at DA0HQ won the IARU HF World Championship 11 times. Hepassed away in 2011.

Don Chesser, W4KVX (SK) — Chesser founded and edited DX Magazinefrom 1957-1964. A pioneering DXer and DXpeditioner in the 1950s and 1960s, he was part of the team that first put 4U1ITU on the air from International Telecommunication Union headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 1962. Chesser also served as CQ’s DX Editor from 1957-58. He passed away in 1985.

Carl Smith, N4AA — Currently the Editor and Publisher of DX Magazine, as well as CQ’s current DX Editor, Smith is following in Chesser’s footsteps a half-century later. He also edits the weekly QRZ DX newsletter and, for the past 15 years, has compiled the annual “Most Wanted” survey of DX entities needed by hams around the world. Smith is also a leading force behind the creation of the Southern Appalachian Radio Museum and has been a long-time Elmer, mentoring many new radio amateurs in the art of DXing.

Glenn Johnson, W0GJ — A leading DXpeditioner (in addition to his full-time job as an orthopedic surgeon), Johnson has been part of more than two dozen DXpeditions over about as many years. He has been leader or co-leader of many of these trips, most of which have been to locations high on DX Magazine’s “Most Wanted: list. In 2000, Johnson was personally responsible for re-introducing Amateur Radio to Bhutan, and has been honored by that country’s king as the only non-Bhutanese to hold the “native” call sign of A51B. He is also vice president of the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF), the leading organization providing financial support to DXpeditions to rare locations.

This year marks the 26th anniversary of the CQ Contest Hall of Fame and the 11th anniversary of the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. The CQ DX Hall of Fame celebrates its 45th year in honoring the world’s top DXers. Formal inductions to the CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame are scheduled to take place during the 2012 Dayton Hamvention®.