As its first order of business at the 2010 Annual Meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors elected ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, of Blacksburg, Virginia, as the organization's new President. She will take over the reins from outgoing President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, at the close of the Annual Meeting. In October, Harrison advised the Board that he would not seek re-election.

The elections at the Annual Meeting generated a ripple effect of vacancies within the ARRL hierarchy. The elevation of Craigie to the presidency led to Vice President Rick Roderick, K5UR, being elected First Vice President and Midwest Division Director Bruce Frahm, K0BJ, elected to the Vice President position. This has created a vacancy in the Director position in the Midwest Division, so Vice Director Cliff Ahrens, K0CA, will take over as Director. Dakota Division Director Jay Bellows, K0QB, was elected International Vice President; Dakota Division Vice Director Greg Widin, K0GW, will move up to Director in that Division. ARRL Technical Relations Manager Brennan Price, N4QX, was elected ARRL Chief Technology Officer. He replaces Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, who retired from the staff in 2008 but retained the officer title through the end of its two-year term.

One of Craigie's first items of business as League President will be to appoint new Vice Directors in both the Midwest and Dakota Divisions.

"I'm excited about working with the new team of officers to carry out the Board's directives here in the US and internationally in cooperation with the IARU," she said after the election. "All the way back to the League's founding in 1914, Amateur Radio has always existed in a challenging environment. The League will continue meeting today's challenges so hams can continue to serve the public, explore technology and have fun on the bands."

First licensed in 1983, Craigie has been a Volunteer Examiner for more than 20 years, now working with the New River Valley Amateur Radio Club's team. In 1986, she became ARRL Section Manager for Eastern Pennsylvania, moving up to Atlantic Division Vice Director in 1990. Six years later, she became Atlantic Division Director; in 2000 she was elected Vice President and in 2006 First Vice President of the ARRL. She has served on all the standing committees of the ARRL Board of Directors and also worked on the League's Enforcement Task Force, the committee whose pressure finally resulted in the FCC's assigning Riley Hollingsworth to clean up the ham bands.

Craigie's first assignment as Vice President was to design what became the ARRL Education & Technology Program. Later, she chaired the National Emergency Response Planning Committee, tasked with recommendations on the League's readiness at the national level to respond to extraordinary disasters. In 2009, she chaired the ad-hoc committee that produced The Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues. This document offers guidelines to assist radio amateurs and anyone wishing to utilize the capabilities of Amateur Radio in understanding the FCC Rules that prohibit communications in which the amateur has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer..

On the air, Craigie enjoys DXing -- that's what attracted her to ham radio in the first place -- award-hunting and contesting. She holds VUCC on 6 meters, 5BDXCC (endorsed for 12, 17 and 30 meters), the DXCC Challenge award, WAZ and WAE Class 1 CW. She enjoys digital modes such as RTTY and PSK31, as well as CW and phone. She is involved with SKYWARN through the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Craigie's husband Carter, N3AO, is a retired college professor. He has served as a Section Traffic Manager and as an ARES® Emergency Coordinator. He especially enjoys QRP and operating outdoors on the Appalachian Trail. He is also a SKYWARN volunteer. Their daughter Jenny Riffe, KA3WVD, also lives in Virginia with her husband and two children.

Further details on the 2010 Annual Meeting will soon be available on the ARRL Web site and in the April 2010 issue of QST.