Community Professional Loudspeakers announced today that vice president John Wiggins will retire after a distinguished career spanning 41 years with the company.
Wiggins joined Community’s founder, president and chief engineer Bruce W. Howze in 1971 and became a partner in 1972. He has held multiple roles during his time at Community, including VP of sales, VP of marketing and his current position as VP of business development.
The quality of technical documentation of loudspeaker systems delivered by Community has been industry-leading since Wiggins provided acoustical measurements and calculations for the famous “Community White Book” published in the 1970s. The book comprehensively detailed the directivity factor and spherical propagation characteristics of Community products, together with many competing loudspeaker products of the day.
Along with the development of electroacoustic design software like EASE, Modeler, CATT, Ulysses and others, Community’s leadership in providing accurate loudspeaker data has been instrumental in the proliferation of the computer-aided acoustic modeling of performance venues and predicting the performance of sound systems.
n 2003, John Wiggins and Dave Howden, Community’s Director of Technical Services, created the Community TAG Team, the Technical Applications Group which has become one of the pre-eminent “hands-on” audio tech teams in the industry.
Throughout his career with Community, Wiggins has worked closely with countless audio luminaries, contractors, consultants, musicians, film studios, NASA, professional sports venues, motorsport tracks, cruise ships, themed entertainment and amusement parks, and government organizations.
He is a member of SMPTE, ASA, AES, TEA, IAVM and InfoComm, and is active with NCAC and various theatrical groups. He was awarded a patent for the voice coil centering method used in one of the most powerful transducers ever manufactured, the Community M4.
Community founder Howze states: “It is with equal parts sorrow and joy that we accept John’s decision to retire. John has been a trusted partner and colleague for over 40 years and has made numerous contributions to Community. He leaves the company at a time of unprecedented achievement, much of which can be credited to his contributions.
We will miss him. However, I am pleased that he is making time to pursue other passions in his life. Christine and I wish him success, health and happiness.”
Wiggins will continue to pursue several academic and professional interests.
