Richard "Andy" Andresen of Cumulus Media is the winner of the first Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.
Readers chose Andresen from among a list of nominees that appeared in print. He is chief engineer for two clusters based in Iowa: the five-station Cumulus Quad Cities cluster, which includes WXLP(FM), KORB(FM), KBEA(FM), KJOC(AM) and KBOB(FM), as well as the five-station Dubuque cluster of KLYV(FM), WDBQ(AM/FM), WJOD(FM) and KXGE(FM).
"Andy brings together so many of the qualities inherent in exceptional broadcast engineering," said Radio World Editor Paul J. McLane. "He is a representative of what is best in today's radio engineers, who must be both generalists and technical experts; aware of ownership concerns; and able to work in the worlds of audio, RF and IT.”
The Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award recognizes individuals for excellence in U.S. radio broadcast engineering and allied fields. Nominees are chosen by a panel of Radio World advisers, contributors, suppliers and other industry experts; the newspaper staff does not vote.
Andresen grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and was educated in high-school vocational electronics; he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and is SBE CBNT certified, among other credentials. He has owned a 500-watt AM station and developed an early hard-disk audio system called Robo-Jock.
Commenting about the announcement, Cumulus Corporate Director of Engineering Gary Kline said, "When you consider the fine competition he was up against, we couldn't be more proud."
The award will be presented at NAB2004, which begins next week.