SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX014   
   ARLX014 IARU Region 3 Chairman Michael Owen, VK3KI (SK)   
      
   ZCZC AX14   
   QST de W1AW     
   Special Bulletin 14  ARLX014   
   From ARRL Headquarters     
   Newington CT  September 26, 2012   
   To all radio amateurs    
      
   SB SPCL ARL ARLX014   
   ARLX014 IARU Region 3 Chairman Michael Owen, VK3KI (SK)   
      
   IARU Region 3 Chairman Michael Owen, VK3KI, passed away September   
   22. He was 75. Owen, who was also President of the Wireless   
   Institute of Australia (WIA) -- that country's IARU Member-Society   
   -- participated in many IARU committees and was a member of the IARU   
   Observer Team at a number of World Radiocommunication Conferences.   
   He is perhaps best remembered for his work on Article 25 -- a   
   package of revisions to the international Radio Regulations that are   
   specific to the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services -- at WRC-03.   
      
   Amateur Radio societies around the world have benefited from Owen's   
   enthusiasm and experience; he was passionately involved with the   
   Amateur Radio Service since the 1960s, and served as IARU Vice   
   President from 1989-1999.   
      
   "I am very saddened to hear about Michael's sudden passing," IARU   
   President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, told the ARRL. "I was only speaking to   
   him a few days ago and he was very enthused about leading the IARU   
   Region 3 Conference in Ho Chi Min city in a few weeks. Michael was a   
   good friend and mentor to many of us in IARU. His drafting skills   
   were second to none, and his ability to clearly articulate his   
   position on a number of issues was of immeasurable help to us. The   
   IARU is indebted to his work at WRCs and at many regional Asia   
   Pacific Telecommunications (APT) meetings.   
      
   "I remember working with him at an ITU special committee meeting in   
   2002. He certainly taught me a great deal about how do advocate at   
   the international level, which helped me greatly when I was elected   
   an IARU officer. Michael was also a brilliant lawyer and well known   
   to many colleagues in the profession around the world. The IARU   
   extends sympathies to his family, IARU Region 3 and WIA. I speak for   
   all of my colleagues when I say he will be very sorely missed."   
      
   In 2004, Owen led the WIA through the progression from a federal   
   structure with state divisions, to an efficient national   
   organization with affiliated local clubs. Through Owen, the WIA   
   became highly regarded by government agencies and the Australian   
   Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for its professionalism   
   and efficiency, especially in relation to the WIA examination and   
   call sign management service. He championed and guided the   
   introduction of the Foundation License class in Australia, a move   
   which bolstered the numbers of Australian radio amateurs, while   
   other countries' numbers were declining.   
      
   ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, recalled first   
   meeting Owen 36 years ago: "IARU President Noel Eaton, VE3CJ, had   
   called the first-ever meeting of representatives from all three IARU   
   regions to coordinate global preparations for the 1979 World   
   Administrative Radio Conference. WARC-79 is memorable primarily   
   because it's where the Amateur Radio Service gained the bands at 10,   
   18 and 24 MHz, among other things. Michael came to that meeting in   
   Florida in April 1976 as a Director of what was then called the IARU   
   Region 3 Association, which had been formed just a few years earlier   
   to bring together the IARU Member-Societies of the Asia-Pacific   
   region. His day job was as an attorney, but he was also an active   
   radio amateur and very involved in the WIA. I got to know Michael   
   much better three years later, because we spent 11 weeks in Geneva   
   together at WARC-79. He had found a place on the Australian   
   delegation and I was part of the IARU team. He was not simply a   
   colleague; he was a friend.   
      
   "Among the assignments that Michael drew at WARC-79 was to draft a   
   resolution to exempt the Amateur-Satellite Service from coordination   
   procedures that otherwise would have bogged us down in endless   
   paperwork and great expense. As an attorney it was just the sort of   
   thing he was good at. His work has stood the test of time, and it   
   remains in effect to this day. No good deed goes unpunished, so in   
   2003, he was brought back to Geneva as a member of the IARU team to   
   handle the rewrite of Article 25, the rules that apply specifically   
   to the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services. That turned out to be   
   as much an exercise in diplomacy as in drafting, but Michael was up   
   to the task. I shudder to think what he would have billed a   
   commercial client for the same sort of job but this, as all of his   
   other contributions to Amateur Radio, was service performed as a   
   volunteer.   
      
   "Michael did not go into hibernation between 1979 and 2003. From   
   1989-1999, he served as Vice President of the IARU. Later, as   
   President of the Wireless Institute of Australia, he choreographed   
   the transition of the WIA from a confederation to a truly national   
   body. Today the WIA -- which celebrated its 100th anniversary in   
   2010 -- is one of the few other national Amateur Radio organizations   
   in the world that is growing. Simultaneously, Michael served as   
   Chairman of IARU Region 3 since 2006, and at the time of his death   
   was organizing the Region 3 Conference in Ho Chi Minh City that   
   begins less than six weeks from now.   
      
   "Michael Owen was a strategic thinker; he saw past short-term pros   
   and cons and could envision how decisions made today would affect   
   the distant future. He also understood that working in the   
   background -- doing one's homework -- was essential to success.   
   There is simply no way to replace someone with Michael's experience   
   and wisdom. His death is a searing loss for both the IARU and the   
   WIA, but both organizations are stronger today because of the   
   enormous contributions he made to their well-being."   
      
   WIA Vice President Phil Wait, VK2ASD, has assumed the role of WIA   
   President. Wait has served as a WIA Director since 2003 and was   
   appointed in WIA Vice President in 2010.   
      
   Owen is survived by his wife Nan, who accompanied him on many   
   Amateur Radio occasions -- most recently at the WIA National   
   Convention in Mildura -- and two daughters. A funeral service is   
   scheduled for 10:30 AM on Friday, September 28 at St Andrews   
   Anglican Church in Brighton, Victoria.   
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
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