Barry Thomas has been elected the 25th president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). Thomas currently serves as the vice president of engineering in the radio division for Lincoln Financial Media.
Thomas has worked in broadcast engineering for more than 25 years and is a senior member of the SBE. He has been a member since 1986 and is currently active in the Atlanta chapter. He most recently served as SBE treasurer and chairman of the strategic planning committee. His term will begin Oct. 11 during the SBE National Meeting in Pittsburgh.
Thomas is joined by new vice president Vincent Lopez, director of engineering for WSYT/WNYS-TV in Syracuse, NY. Lopez is a member and past chairman of the central New York chapter and has been a member of the national SBE Board of Directors since 2000, most recently as national secretary. He has been a member of the SBE since 1991 and was elected an SBE Fellow in 2004.
Elected secretary was Ted Hand, chief engineer of WSOC/WAXN-TV in Charlotte, NC. Hand joined the SBE in 1982 and is now a senior member, serving as a member of the Board of Directors for four years and as a member of the executive committee. He is currently chairman of the education committee.
The new treasurer is Ralph Hogan, assistant general manager of engineering services for Washington State University in Pullman. Hogan has been an SBE member since 1990 and is a senior member, having served six years on the Board of Directors, two as secretary, and has been a member of the certification committee since 1996.
Six members were also elected to the board of directors:
- Chris Alexander, director of engineering, Crawford Broadcasting Company, Denver;
- Andrea B. Cummis, senior VP of engineering and technology, American Desi TV, Roseland, NJ;
- Dane E. Ericksen, senior engineer, Hammett & Edison, San Francisco;
- Clay Freinwald, Entercom, Seattle;
- Hal H. Hostetler, senior engineer/IT director, KVOA-TV, Tucson, AZ;
- Jerry Massey, corporate regional engineer and director of engineering, Entercom Communications, Greenville, SC.
Six returning members, as well as former president Chriss Scherer, will join them. They include:
- Ralph Beaver, president and CEO, Media Alert, Tampa, FL;
- James T. Bernier Jr., director of maintenance, design and engineering, Turner Entertainment Networks, TBS, Atlanta;
- Keith M. Kintner, radio/TV/film engineer, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI;
- Thomas R. Ray III, VP and corporate director of engineering, Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio, New York;
- Christopher D. Tarr, director of engineering, Entercom Milwaukee/Madison, Delafield, WI;
- Larry J. Wilkins, assistant director of engineering, Cumulus Broadcasting, Prattville, AL.
The SBE is the professional organization of TV and radio engineers and those in related fields with more than 5400 members in 112 chapters across the United States, and in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The organization offers one of the largest and most recognized certification programs for broadcast engineers, operators and technicians, with more than 5000 certifications currently active.
For more information, visit www.sbe.org.
