At its July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors named the recipients of several awards and honors:

• Producers and staff of The Takeaway — a daily radio news magazine produced jointly by Public Radio International, WGBH, and WNYC, and produced at WNYC in New York — were named to receive the 2017 Bill Leonard W2SKE Professional Media Award for Audio Reporting. The program, aired by more than 280 outlets, included an in-depth interview with ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, about the role of Amateur Radio volunteers deployed in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
• The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore, Jen Carfagno, and TWC’s AMHQ program staff were the joint recipients of the 2017 Bill Leonard W2SKE Professional Media Award for Video Reporting. AMHQ also conducted an extensive interview with Corey about Amateur Radio’s role in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
• ABC affiliate WCIV-TV in Charleston, South Carolina, was recognized for “its outstanding coverage” of the August 2017 solar eclipse. The station aired a live remote broadcast with members of the Charleston Amateur Radio Society (CARS) regarding their on-the-air efforts to record the eclipse’s propagation effects during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. The station was credited with explaining “the application of physics, radio theory, and other sciences” and their importance and relevance “in a comprehensive, yet understandable manner.”
• E. Gordon Mooneyhan, W4EGM, was named the winner of the 2018 Philip J. McGan Silver Antenna Award for his outstanding public relations success on behalf of Amateur Radio as an ARRL Public Information Officer in the South Carolina Section. Mooneyhan was credited with adapting and applying “innovative strategies to emerging social media” in promoting Amateur Radio and events.
• Ruth Willet, KM4LAO, was named to receive the 2018 ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award. A student at Kettering University, Willet was instrumental in re-establishing the school’s Amateur Radio club and has mentored new licensees, among other activities. She earned the August 2017 QST Cover Plaque Award and has written articles for other Amateur Radio news outlets. ARRL’s top youth honor, The Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award is given annually to an ARRL member under the age of 21, whose accomplishments and contributions to both the community of Amateur Radio and the local community are “of the most exemplary nature.” The award carries a cash award of $1,500 and a suitably engraved plaque.

• The Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) project team was named as recipient of the 2018 ARRL Microwave Development Award for its initiatives to utilize Amateur Radio’s microwave bands. These included extending the network’s high-speed multimedia capabilities from solely 2.4 GHz to 900 MHz, 3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz, and adding 802.11n protocol to improve data throughput. The Board also acknowledged the efforts of the many AREDN implementation groups around the country who are building networks based on this technology and who stand ready to utilize them to serve the needs of their communities in times of disaster.

In addition, the ARRL Board of Directors: 

• conferred the title of ARRL Director Emeritus on Coy Day, N5OK, in recognition of “superior and distinguished service to the Board. Day served for 9 years as ARRL West Gulf Division Director and has continued to be active in supporting ARRL and its mission, including serving on the ARRL DX Advisory Committee.”
• recognized and congratulated the Walla Walla Valley Amateur Radio Club of Washington for 90 years of “exemplary service to the Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon Amateur Radio Community.”
• recognized and congratulated the Apple City Amateur Radio Club of Wenatchee, Washington, for more than 50 years of service to its community and to Amateur Radio.
• congratulated the Oregon Tualatin Valley Amateur Radio Club, W7OTV, for 40 years of “excellent service to the hobby.”