The Directors in IARU Region 3 have voted to appoint Peter Lake, ZL2AZ, of Wellington, New Zealand, as the Chairman of IARU Region 3. He replaces Michael Owen, VK3KI, who passed away unexpectedly last month. Owen, who was also President of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), had served as Region 3 Chairman since 2006.

“I am extremely grateful to my fellow Directors for their support in this difficult time, and for the procedural work by [IARU Region 3] Secretary Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP, to formalize an appointment,” Lake said in a statement. “I will do my best to carry through all the work that we have in progress, much of it due to items and ideas put in place by Michael. It is my privilege to have the opportunity to serve you, the Member Societies and fellow amateurs in Region 3.”

Lake -- who has been a licensed amateur for more than 50 years -- has been involved with IARU activities for more than 25 years and a Director of Region 3 since February 2005. He began his professional career as an engineer, first with the New Zealand Post Office and then with Telecom New Zealand. He followed this with 14 years at a small and specialized telecommunications consulting company in Wellington that included a wide variety of assignments in the Pacific, Asia and Southeast Asia.

“My ‘style’ will probably be different from Michael’s in some ways,” Lake explained, “but our goals are the same -- to ensure a growing and successful IARU Region 3.”