Approaching its 95th birthday, the Radio Club of America continues to be a source of inspiration and education to its members, whose ongoing contributions make this living history of radio communications possible.
The club was founded, the story goes, by a group of teenage members of the Junior Aero Club who petitioned Congress for radio frequencies they could use to fly their model airplanes by way of radio waves. Congress allotted them RF, sparking interest in amateur radio among the members, and in 1909, the Junior Aero Club decided to form a new organization dedicated to wireless telegraphy and telephony: the Junior Wireless Club Ltd., which became the Radio Club of America in 1911.
Since then, the club has broadened with technological innovations and now caters to the radio, wireless communications and broadcast industries as a whole. Its member directory reads like a veritable who’s who in wireless, with industry figureheads like Marty Cooper, James Dwyer, Robert Galvin, Mal Gurian, Dale Hatfield, Morgan O’Brien, and Tom Wheeler-all also members of the RCR Wireless News Hall of Fame-included.
But the club is not just for experts in the field; it counts radio hams, college students and broadcast professionals among its membership too. “The Radio Club gives you an opportunity to see a broader picture of the wireless industry,” said Rich Reichler, a life member currently serving as a director and chair of the club’s marketing and publicity committee.
The group’s purpose now is “to operate exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes and more specifically to study and contribute to the development of radio communication programs and provide a scholarship fund for needy and worthy students for the study of radio communications,” according to its purpose statement.
Club members are active in donating money, time and expertise to bring that purpose statement to life. Today the priority is funding scholarships that will attract young people to careers in the radio-communications field and to the club.
To that end, the Radio Club is gearing up to launch an ad campaign to promote its scholarships and educational opportunities in the wireless-communications field. The campaign will feature Ted Rappaport, Radio Club member and director of the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG) at The University of Texas at Austin. WNCG, a research center within the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UT, is focused on the development of research and educational materials in several technical areas fundamental to wireless networks.
Rappaport himself garnered a scholarship from the Radio Club that enabled him to found the Mobile & Portable Radio Research Group (MPRG) at Virginia Tech, one of the first university research and teaching centers dedicated to wireless communications.
Other fund-raising efforts also are being encouraged to further the scholarship fund. The current leadership, for example, plans to open a Radio Club store, offering Radio Club-tailored goods to members. The proceeds from the goods sold will go toward the scholarship fund.
In addition to its scholarship program, which mainly benefits radio-industry newcomers, the club has an extensive awards program to recognize contributors to the field. “I don’t think there’s any finer recognition than that from your peers,” said Jay Kitchen, president of PCIA, who received the Sarnoff Citation award in 1996 to honor his contributions to the wireless industry.
Kitchen joined the Radio Club in 1971, hoping to meet and network with the industry pioneers that were part of the group. More than 30 years later, he is encouraged by the regular flow of new, young members to the group, who are “hopefully drawn [to the club] by the same things I was,” he said.
Among active members in the club when Kitchen joined were: Jack Poppele, a pioneer in radio broadcasting; Frank Gunther, known as the original developer of short-wave radio equipment; Fred Link, founder of Link Radio Corp. and inventor of FM two-way radios that were used by police departments and U.S. armed forces during World War II; and Bill Leer, known for his many patents in electronics and the Leer Jet.
As banquet chairman, Gurian has commissioned well-known industry leaders to speak at the club’s annual November meeting held in New York. Barry Goldwater, a former Radio Club member himself, gave a memorable speech while he was a senator, Gurian recalled.
The club’s strong sense of history and the prominence of its many past members attract new members and contributors to the group. The Radio Club serves as a forum to document the history of the communications industry, explained Stan Rubenstein, a member since 1981. “We know our roots,” said Rubenstein.
The New York City-based club today boasts 1,061 members, scattered throughout the United States. Members are encouraged to participate on committees and to serve as officers or directors to further the reach of the club throughout the industry. The group counts seven officers, including President Mercy Contreras, the first female officer in the club’s 94-year history, seven directors and an executive committee that includes the officers and nine other members. The elected leaders typically serve two-year terms. The Radio Club has honored Jack Brennan, Gaetano (Tom) Amoscato, Gurian, Renville H. McMann Jr., Jerry B. Minter, John W. Morrisey, William H. Offenhauser, Jr. and Raymond C. Trott with the title of president emeritus.
The club meets twice a year with six executive committee meetings per year for officers, which are often attended via conference call. The club also is known for its breakfast meetings, held at industry events like the annual International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) and the annual Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference. The current leadership also is planning to hold a West-Coast-based event soon to make the club more accessible to members throughout the country.
