Charles Herrold Award - Radio Operations and Production Management

Charles David ‘Doc’ Herrold, (November 16, 1875 – July 1, 1948) was an American radio broadcasting pioneer. Born in Fulton, Illinois, Herrold grew up in San José, California and attended Stanford University where he studied physics and astronomy. When his electrical manufacturing company in San Francisco was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake he moved into teaching, and opened the Herrold College of Wireless and Engineering at 50 W. San Fernando St. in San José in 1909 to educate wireless operators. Interested in radio to transmit voice signals, he began broadcasting music and entertainment on a regular basis between 1912 and 1917 to fellow radio enthusiasts, using the callsigns FN and SJN. He had the world’s first regularly scheduled broadcasts, allowing listeners to tune in at a known time. However, in 1917, the US government ordered non-military radio transmissions to cease. After World War I, Herrold obtained the licence for KQW in 1921, but he was unable to maintain the financial requirements, and the station was sold several times. In the 1940s, CBS attempted to buy its then-affiliate in San Francisco, KSFO. KSFO refused to sell, so CBS purchased KQW, moved it to San Francisco and changed the call letters to KCBS. However, Herrold did not profit financially from his pioneering work, and later became a repair technician in the Oakland, California school district, and a janitor in a local shipyard. He died in a Hayward, California rest home, aged 72.

Past Recipients

Radio Operations

2015 Trey Fiebich
2014 Jordan Serpa
2013 Robert Leiva
2013 Nataraj Das
2012 Katharine Mindigo
2011 Gabriella Ventuso
2010 Justin Allegri
2009 Alicia Fuentes
2008 Denise McGillicuddy
2007 Andrea Garcia-Villa
2006 Nick Mikulka
2005 Erin Scullion
2004 Arianna Flores
2003 Not awarded
2002 Tommy Kang
2001 Not awarded
2000 Not awarded
1999 Darren Gaitan
1999 Catherine Leyba

Production Management

2015 Haley Barta
2014 Chloe Uyehara
2013 John Romulo
2012 Kate Lambdin
2011 Robert Krakower
2010 Sam Sirico
2009 Rob Soul
2008 Edward Martin
2007 Nicloe Woodson
2006 Erin Haney
2006 Chris Gaoiran
2005 James Eitel
2005 Steve Sajor
2004 Diane Maximo
2003 Michelle Robles
2002 Jack Igoe
2001 Ovales