Officers, Directors, Staff

Steve Hansman

• Board Chair

A native Marylander, Steve is a retired Family Physician, and has been involved with the museum since its’ inception. He has had a lifelong interest in science and got his start in electronics from my his father who taught that subject for the US Army. That background and his love of history led to become a radio collector and historian. He was elected to the board of the museum in June 2015, and became the chair of the board in January 2018. He currently lives in Arnold, MD

Brian Belanger

• Curator

One of the founders of the Radio History Society, volunteer Brian Belanger is the Museum’s curator and a Director on the board. Prior to his retirement in 2000 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, he held several senior management positions there, including Deputy Director of the Advanced Technology Program. He was a Commerce Department Science and Technology Fellow in 1983 and a recipient of Bronze and Silver medals from the Department. An electrical engineer, with a bachelor’s degree from Caltech and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, Brian also was a research engineer at the General Electric Research and Development Center early in his career. He is an amateur extra-class ham operator with call letters KB3PRS. He is the co-editor of Radio Age, the newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club, and the editor of Dials and Channels, the journal of the Radio & Television Museum. He was the recipient of the 2001 Antique Wireless Association’s Houck Award for Documentation for his many articles on antique radio topics, and also served as the first vice president of that organization.

Laurie Baty

• Treasurer

Laurie Baty currently serves as the Museum Director for the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum. Prior to this role, Laurie served at the Deputy Director and then Executive Director for the National Capitol Radio & Television Museum Other previous positions include her role as the first Director of the new National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, DC. and she also served as the Deputy Director for Collections and then Deputy Director for Special Projects at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Chief of the Museum Services Branch at the U.S Department of the Interior; Program Officer for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives; Archivist for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History; Curatorial Librarian at the Maryland Historical Society; Fellow at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House in Rochester; Museum Technician at Ft. McHenry National Monument in Baltimore; and Interpreter at the C&O Canal National Historic Site. Ms. Baty holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Gettysburg College, a Master’s Degree in American Studies from George Washington University, and professional affiliations and activities too numerous to list. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.”

David Rosetti

A Naval Academy graduate with a Master’s degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, Dave currently supports himself as a business development professional, providing consulting services to businesses pursuing Federal contracts, predominately in the Defense and information technology sectors. He started his career as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as an Electronics Warfare and Electronics Maintenance Officer on a naval combatant. Leaving the Navy, his career has spanned numerous technology fields. He has worked in undersea warfare systems, information technology, transportation systems, and the intelligence community, in various capacities that included roles as an analyst, business development manager, program manager, engineering manager, systems engineer, director, and for a short time, business manager for a family owned antiques store. Dave has been an avid collector and restorer of antiquities, including vintage and 18th century furniture, 70s and 80s period automobiles, and more recently, tube-based electronics. His specialty area currently lies in the collection, repair, restoration, and calibration of Hickok and military vacuum tube testers. In addition to his service on the NCRTV board supporting strategic planning for the museum, he also serves as a director on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club. He is also a graduate of the NCRTV’s Antique Radio Repair course. Dave lives in Annapolis, MD.

Ira Wexler

After graduating Capitol Institute of Technology with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and then graduate study at Johns Hopkins University, Ira taught electronics at the Community College of Baltimore, before beginning his career as an electrical engineer. He recently retired from the diagnostic instrument division of Becton Dickinson as an engineering manager, and prior to that was an electrical engineer at Environmental Elements Corporation. In that capacity, he received a patent for introducing microcomputer technology to the electrostatic precipitator industry. His interest in electronics and radio began when he became an amateur radio operator in 1960. His present callsign is KB3I. In addition to restoring antique radios, he also collects and restores electromechanical pinball machines and amusement devices. He has been a docent at the museum since January of 2015, and is also the Chairman of the Volunteer Committee.

Chris Waldron

Chris is entering his second year as a Board Member for the National Capital Radio and Television Museum. It has been a rewarding experience for him as he has helped guide this museum through another year of existence educating the public on the history of Radio and Television. Chris is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University where he studied broadcast journalism. He is also a practicing attorney representing individuals that are active in the areas of broadcasting, digital information security and startup companies. In addition he has several years of experience representing corporations in regulatory proceedings and engaging in litigation stemming from these proceedings. He has experience in broadcast radio as a on air news reporter and fundraiser for his college radio station (WPSU). Also, he was an article writer and Editor in Chief of his law school newspaper (The New York Law School Reporter). Chris is active in the community and is a adult volunteer with Boy Scout Troop 1657 based in Prince George’s County where he has served as an Assistant Scout Master and Interim Scout Master for the troop. He is always open to discuss new ideas and approaches to problems and looks forward to continue working with his colleagues on the board of the National Capital Radio and Television Museum.

Mike Simmons

Mike Simons is the Executive Director of the National Electronics Museum (NEM) Previous to his role at NEM, Mike worked at the National Museum of Health and Medicine as the Registrar. Mike has a BA from Kent State University and a MA from Southern Illinois University. He trained as an archeologist, doing fieldwork and research in India, Micronesia, the Greater Antilles, and the Eastern U.S.

John Anderson

John graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and spent most of his career there as a clinical nephrologist (kidney specialist) until retiring in 2010. His interest in vintage radios and TVs dates to 1950 when at age three, he was the first employee of Anderson Radio and Television Repair, a business started by his father, Gus Anderson. Gus had received a degree in Radio and Television engineering in 1940 and served in the US Army Signal Corp. Encouraged by his uncles Bill and Neil, radio and computer engineers, respectively, as well the need to refurbish the Zenith farm radio and Magnavox TV he inherited from his dad, he took the Museum’s vintage radio repair course and then become a docent in 2014. He was elated when the farm radio worked beautifully at his family reunion in front of his uncles and three cousins who are also engineers. He lives in the middle of an apple and pear orchard in Glen Arm, MD, with his wife, a research scientist and serves on the medical advisory board of the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland. They are frequent visitors to London, U.K., where their daughter is a corporate banker and their one year old granddaughter is into playing with trucks and balls not dolls.

Paul Fiddick

Broadcasting is a lifelong calling for Paul. A shortwave listener from age 10, he has served as chief executive of three commercial broadcasting companies throughout his career. Paul is President Emeritus of Emmis International, a multinational radio company that operated primarily in Central and Eastern Europe. He co-founded Heritage Media Corporation and built its radio division to one of the largest operators in the U.S. Paul was recruited to Heritage from Multimedia Broadcasting, where he was president of its radio division. He began his radio career as an on-air personality at a campus radio station, and while in college, constructed an AM/FM pirate station. Paul is past Chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau and director of the National Association of Broadcasters. He also served in a Senate-confirmed subcabinet position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and briefly as Acting Agriculture Secretary. Paul has taught Mass Communications at the university level, and is an honors graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Cathy Gorn, PhD

Dr. Cathy Gorn is the executive director of National History Day. Dr. Gorn received her B.A. in English from Kent State University in 1982, and her Ph.D. in history from Case Western Reserve University 1992. She has made numerous presentations on history education at forums for historians and teachers, including the National Council for the Social Studies, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians. Her publications on teaching history to young people have appeared in several professional journals. In addition, Dr. Gorn has contributed to and served as editor for more than 40 curriculum guides and projects for National History Day. Dr. Gorn has directed nearly three dozen national institutes for teachers of history and social studies, including institutes on: “Normandy: Sacrifice for Freedom,” and “Global and Multi-Cultural Perspectives on the Columbian Voyage and Its Legacies.” Dr. Gorn currently serves on the White House Historical Association Board of Directors and the National Capital Radio & Television Museum Board of Trustees. She served two terms on the Education Advisory Committee for the First Freedom Center, the Education Committee of the American Bar Association and the Presidential Advisors for the National World War II Museum. In 2011, National History Day received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama.

Ellen Dahl

• Museum Assistant

Ellen Dahl has worked as the Museum Assistant at the National Capital Radio & Television Museum since August of 2017. Before joining our team, Ellen volunteered at a number of local museums, including Montpelier Mansion and our very own NCRTV, where she initiated a systematic inventory of the museum's vast collection. If you have any questions about the museum, programming, volunteer opportunities, or scheduling a tour, please contact her at info@ncrtv.org or call 301-390-1020.