Award-winner Arnold was captivated by communications at a young age

He was on a tour of NBC Studios in New York City with his father, when six-year-old Harvey Arnold first became captivated with the radio and television industry.

“I remember being enamored by the huge TV cameras, lights, large two-inch videotape machines and all of the supporting terminal equipment,” Arnold said. “I was hooked!”

The 1975 UW-Green Bay graduate now has four decades under his belt, and is considered a pioneer in the broadcasting industry through his work in improving transmission technologies and broadcast systems.

Harvey Arnold

Arnold is the corporate director of engineering at Sinclair Broadcast Group in Baltimore, one of the largest television station operators in the country with 167 television stations in 77 markets. He is responsible for the design and maintenance of TV stations, transmitters, towers, antenna systems, and making stations more efficient.

In 2013 he was awarded one of six Broadcasting & Cable Technology Leadership Awards. Recipients were chosen for their work in bringing innovation and collaboration to day-to-day operations.

Arnold first came to UW-Green Bay from his native New York, drawn by UWGB’s “Eco U” values, and friendly atmosphere. He found “great professors and interesting courses (such as the ‘Ecology of Fire’) that were not offered anywhere else.”

During his first semester, when there was a serious interest in starting a student-run FM radio station on campus, his interest for broadcast engineering was revived, and WGBW-FM was born.
Arnold recalls working with his friend, Don Vandervelden, to host the radio show “The Music of Springtime.” Their Saturday evening program was centered on positive-themed music.

Arnold’s mentor, Gary Mach, was the chief engineer for Instructional Services at UWGB responsible for the technical build-out and operation of WGBW-FM, as well as the television production center on the UWGB campus.

“Gary taught me the value of doing quality engineering,” Arnold said. “We all need a mentor such as Gary. We still keep in touch today, and I remain grateful to him for sharing his knowledge with me and for showing, by example, ways to practice good engineering,” Arnold said.

During his undergraduate experience, Arnold became involved in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) student program at the University, and met and eventually married Julia (Terry), ’76, now a research scientist at the National Cancer Institute.

“I love to help the public radio and television community by sharing my experience with them,” Arnold said. “Public broadcasting in the U.S. is such a valuable service.”

Arnold attributes UW-Green Bay in helping him understand and appreciate the complexity and fragileness of the environment and the importance of communication. He says he enjoys working with other professionals and it makes the job easier when people work together to solve complex problems.

“A technical manager needs to do more than think analytically,” Arnold said. “It is vitally important to be a team leader. Developing people skills and motivating the workforce requires lots of two-way communication. You can’t just focus on the technology, you need to understand people.”
Story by Cheyenne Makinia, Marketing and University Communication intern