ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ, of Lincoln, Nebraska, as Midwest Division Vice Director. He will fill the vacancy created when incumbent Vice Director Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, was elected Midwest Division Director. Zygielbaum said that when it was first suggested that he consider the appointment, he hesitated because of his already-full schedule of teaching, research, and volunteer activities.

“But, Amateur Radio has given me a focus that informed and provided technical resources for my entire career,” he said. “The skills I learned, the people I met, and the spirit I inherited from my Elmers have served me well. Accepting the Vice Director position is another way that I can give back to the hobby.”

An ARRL Life Member, Zygielbaum served as Nebraska Section Manager from 2009 to 2013. He has been a Midwest Division Assistant Director since 2013. He also is a member of the Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio Service (MARS) and serves as Nebraska Deputy State AF MARS Director. He has been licensed since 1961.

Zygielbaum is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, engaged in research into remote sensing of vegetation stress and teaching courses in remote sensing and geospatial information technologies. He previously spent nearly 30 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, progressing from engineer to senior manager. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from UCLA, a master’s in electrical engineering-computers from USC, and a PhD in geography-remote sensing at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

His 3-year term as Midwest Division Vice Director will begin at noon Eastern Time on January 1, 2015.