Society of Broadcast Engineers Presents John H. Battison Award for Lifetime Achievement to Mark Persons

The Society of Broadcast Engineers presented its Membership Meeting & Awards Presentation (MMAP) webcast on Sept. 23. The program, held online after the in-person events had to be cancelled because of COVID-19, combined the SBE’s annual Membership Meeting and Awards Banquet presentations into one online event.

In addition to the previously announced awards, including the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award to RJ Russell, CPBE, of Middletown, DE, and the 2020 James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year awards to Fred Baumgartner, CPBE, CBNT, of Elizabeth, CO, and Roland Robinson, CBTE, CBNT, CTO, of Tacoma, WA, the event also recognized other individual and chapter efforts, as well as the two newest SBE Fellows, Ralph Beaver, CBT, and Jim Leifer, CPBE.

The MMAP also added a special surprise event. The SBE John H. Battison Award for Lifetime Achievement recognizes and pays tribute to individuals for their dedication, lifelong achievement and outstanding contribution to broadcast engineering. Nominees are SBE members in good standing and have been active for 40 years or more in the broadcast engineering industry or a closely allied field that benefits broadcast engineering. Nominations can be made by any member of the SBE and will include the endorsement of three other SBE members. There is no more than one recipient per calendar year. The recipient for 2020 is Mark Persons, CPBE, AMD, CBNT.
Mark, a life-long resident of Minnesota, followed in the footstep of his father, who was also a radio broadcast engineer. Mark started turning transmitter knobs more than 60 years ago.

While reaching the rank of sergeant in the United States Army from 1967 to 1969, Mark was in charge of an avionics repair shop for the OV-1 Mohawk high-tech surveillance aircraft in Vietnam. After his military service, he spent the next ten years with KVBR radio in Brainerd, MN, where he became chief engineer. In 1977, he opened his own radio engineering consulting business, which he operated for the next 40 years. He married his wife Paula in 1978, and she became instrumental in running the business side of the business out of their home.

Mark has been a respected engineer in Minnesota and the upper Midwest his entire career. He built 12 commercial AM and FM radio stations, and rebuilt, upgraded, maintained and repaired countless other radio stations for clients. He has endeavored to share his knowledge and experience with others in the field. He has written more than 140 articles that have appeared in industry magazines and made more than 25 speeches and presentations at industry conventions, conferences and meetings.

Mark joined the SBE in 1981, and is now a life member. He holds three life certifications from the SBE. Outside of his broadcasting career, Mark is a member of the American Legion, The VFW and Disabled American Veterans. He enjoys amateur radio as WØMH, and photography.
Retired several years ago, he and Paula are mentoring younger broadcast engineers through the SBE Mentor Program. Mentoring is his way of giving back to the industry that kept him employed for more than 50 years.

On receiving the honor during the webcast, Mark said, “This really was a lifetime experience for me. I never had a plan B. I was always going to be a broadcast engineer, and that’s exactly how it came out. I want to continue to contribute to the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Thank you.”

Society of Broadcast Engineers Hires New Executive Director

In January of this year, the SBE announced that Executive Director John Poray would retire at the end of 2020. John has been the society’s executive director for 28 years. In March, the process began to find a candidate to fill the position. (That process is detailed below.)

After receiving and reviewing multiple applications, the field was narrowed to three people. From those three, one was recommended to the SBE Board of Directors, which was reviewed at a board meeting held on Sept. 22. The Board approved the appointment of James Ragsdale of Anderson, IN. Mr. Ragsdale will officially begin work on Jan. 1, 2021.

Most recently, Ragsdale was the VP for finance at Anderson University. Ragsdale also completed his undergraduate degree at Anderson. In that role, he managed the operational budget for the private, liberal arts education institution, participated as member of the university president’s leadership team, and oversaw the business office, human resources, physical plant, police and security, and auxiliary services.

Before his position with Anderson University, he was the senior financial analyst at Ascension Technologies, where he managed the operational and capital budgets for Indiana Market and St. Vincent Health system. Other career work includes treasurer and controller at Church of God Ministries and practice administrator at Anderson Family Practice Associates.

Ragsdale earned his bachelor of arts in business management and public affairs at (then) Anderson College, and his masters of business administration in finance from Indiana University.

On the announcement, SBE President Wayne Pecena said, “Following all the extensive work by many people to arrive at the final selection of Jim Ragsdale to be the SBE’s new executive director, I welcome Jim and look forward to working with him to continue furthering the goals of the SBE and providing superior services to our members. I also want to thank SBE Past President Joe Snelson for his work leading the Executive Director Search Committee, and all the efforts of the EDSC and the Executive Director Search Advisory Group members.”

The Selection and Review Process
In March of this year, SBE President Wayne Pecena proposed to the board that a five-person Executive Director Search Committee (EDSC) be formed with the goal of seeking out qualified candidates for the position and presenting a finalist to the board for approval. The tasks of the committee included writing a job description, establishing qualifications, proposing a fair compensation package, posting of the position, interviewing candidates and presenting a finalist to the board for approval.

To provide additional input to the EDSC, President Pecena formed an Executive Director Search Advisory Group to seek input on what should be expected from the SBE executive director in terms of duties and responsibilities, and the qualifications required to meet those objectives. This group of about 20 people consisted of SBE members and headquarters staff. Their input was used by the EDSC to finalize the job description of the executive director.

A field of 28 candidates was narrowed to three finalists, who were all interviewed in person by the committee. The Committee unanimously chose one finalist, James Ragsdale, to recommend to the Board.