The SBE recently elected CBS's Ray Benedict to the grade of Fellow. Benedict is director of spectrum engineering for CBS Corp. and is responsible for the FCC licensing; engineering and regulatory compliance matters for all of the CBS-owned entities. He has served the broadcast industry for almost 50 years. He served as a member of the SBE board of directors in the early 1980s and again in the late 1990s. He was SBE secretary from 2000 through 2001, vice president from 2001 through 2003 and national president for two terms from 2003 through 2005.
It was reported that Gary Hartman and Troy Pennington have also been elected to Fellow status. Hartman joined SBE in 1969 and has been an active member of SBE Chapter 22 for 37 years. He has held several positions within the chapter, including chairman. Pennington is regional director of engineering for Cumulus Broadcasting, which is based in Nashville, Tenn. He has been active in SBE, serving as chapter chairman in Birmingham, reorganizing the Huntsville chapter and working to form the Montgomery SBE chapter. He has also been national SBE president, vice president, treasurer and twice a national director. Pennington has also served as chairman of the executive committee and has represented SBE on the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference planning committee.
