[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM VON ALVEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 1998

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great 
American and resident of Northern Virginia, William H. von Alven, who 
has served the country faithfully and ably for twenty-six years at the 
Federal Communications Commission. Mr. von Alven will retire from the 
FCC on April 30, 1998, and I am pleased to join Congressman Frank Wolf, 
FCC Chairman William E. Kennard and the employees of the FCC in 
congratulating Mr. von Alven on this remarkable accomplishment. Mr. von 
Alven is seventy-eight years old and has worked right up to the present 
point.
  Mr. von Alven received his B.S. from the University of Idaho where he 
was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. After pursuing graduate 
studies in engineering and management at Harvard and UCLA, he worked 
extensively in the private sector and edited the best selling book 
Reliability Engineering, which was in print for more than 30 years. Mr. 
von Alven served as president of many communications industry 
institutes and societies, and chaired several international 
conferences. He received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers Centennial Medal, and a Department of Defense award for his 
contributions to the Advisory Group on the Reliability of Electronic 
Equipment. In 1996, he was awarded the Telecommunications Industry 
Association's Certificate of Recognition and the FCC's Catherine 
Forester Public Service Award.
  Mr. von Alven will retire as a Senior Public Utilities Specialist. He 
has managed the Part 68 terminal equipment registration program since 
its inception at the FCC in 1976 and has made many important 
contributions to the FCC. He will be greatly missed by his friends and 
colleagues at the Commission. Mr. von Alven is just one example of the 
many extraordinary federal employees residing in my district. Through 
his long years of service, he is certainly deserving of special 
recognition by the Congress.

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