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Joel Harrison, W5ZN, is President of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for Amateur Radio, elected by the ARRL Board of Directors to his first term in January 2006.
First licensed as WN5IGF in 1972, Harrison went on to get his General, Advanced and Amateur Extra tickets WB5IGF. He's had his current vanity call sign in since 1996.
Harrison started his volunteerism with the League in 1981 after becoming a Section Emergency Coordinator in Arkansas. He then became a Section Manager, Delta Division Director, Vice President, and First Vice President in 2000.
Harrison currently sits on the League's Executive Committee. He previously served as chair of the Enforcement Task Force and of the Administration and Finance Committee.
His interests in Amateur Radio include VHF/UHF/Microwave Weak Signal Communication, EME and DX. Amateur Radio awards include DXCC Honor Roll, DXCC Challenge, 8 Band DXCC, 11 Band VUCC (50 MHz through 24 GHz), 6 Meter WAS, 6 Meter WAC, 2 Meter WAS and 2 Meter WAC. In 1998, he became the world record holder in the ARRL VHF Contest in the single operator category, breaking the record he set in the same contest in 1996. In 2001, Harrison was the recipient of the 2001 Central States VHF Society Mel S. Wilson Award.
He began his formal education studying Industrial Electronics at Arkansas State University. He studied Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, and then traveled overseas to further his education in Germany, Norway and Denmark. He studied Nuclear Science at the Electric Power Research Institute in California.
In 1983, Harrison became the first person in the world to qualify an automated ultrasound imaging system for use in the nuclear power industry. In 1995, he received Special Recognition for Contributions from the American Society for Nondestructive Testing.
Harrison is Director, NDE Engineering for Washington Group International, and lives in Judsonia, Arkansas, with his wife Kim, KB5YIQ. Son Marc, WB5IGF, is a senior at the University of Arkansas pursuing a Communications and Political Science double major. Daughter Melissa, KC5BYT, is a senior at Arkansas Tech University pursuing a Biology and Psychology double major.
