Mellgren was involved in the early days of planning the Club’s Broadcast Operations Center, and he was chair of the Broadcast Committee when it worked with XM Radio and later American Public Radio to edit the Club luncheons for airing as an hour-long program “From the National Press Club.” When that ended, the committee began a regular series of podcasts now called “Update-1.”
Ken Mellgren, former Board chair and passionate Broadcast Team leader, helped plan Club's broadcast center
Longtime National Press Club member Ken Mellgren, who served as chair of the Board of Governors and of the Broadcast team, died Tuesday, Jan. 7. He was 79.
“He always conducted meetings with great dignity and a high level of organizational skill,” former Club Executive Director Bill McCarren said. “He had such a good, commanding voice that he was able to keep a table full of journalists in line, which is not the easiest task. Whatever his volunteer jobs were at the Club, he took them seriously and did a thorough and professional job.”
Mellgren also had a passionate interest in broadcast history. He and 2020 Club President Mike Freedman were close friends and traveled to antique radio shows throughout the region, amassing a collection of historic microphones, radios, and phonographs.
He helped found the National Capital Radio & Television Museum in Bowie, Md. in 1999, and served as its president.
Growing up in Hingham Mass., Mellgren attended Emerson College (now Emerson University) and launched his broadcast career at radio and television stations in Boston, including WGBH-TV and WCVB-TV.
Mellgren had two children with his first wife, Jessica Sawyer, Emily and Geoff (spelling is cq) Mellgren, who survive him, along with his present wife, Sylvia, and three grandchildren.