FCC Announces Shakeups in Division Posts

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2011 –The Federal Communications Commission announced a flurry of new hiring in some of the agency’s top spots this week with new blood due to take over three of the Commission’s upper-level posts.

Tuesday Rick Kaplan as the new Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. On Monday, Robert Naylor was announced as the new Chief Information Officer, and Marius Schwartz as the new Chief Economist in the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis (OSP).

The recent lineup change by the FCC was announced in three separate press releases in less than 24 hours.

Ruth Milkman, Kaplan’s predecessor, will serve under a new title as Special Counsel to the Chairman for Innovation in Government. Among her responsibilities, Milkman will lead a team to develop proposals for procedural, regulatory and statutory changes to further innovation.

Milkman played a key role in the agency’s spectrum policy development, as well as in the area of auctions.  Kaplan, currently Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Genachowski, played an integral part in the Commission’s policymaking over the last year. Kaplan also worked on the DTV transition.

“It is an exciting and critical time for wireless communications, and I am pleased that Rick accepted this leadership position to continue Ruth Milkman’s excellent work in one of the most important sectors of our economy,” said Genachowski.

Robert Naylor’s new role as the Commission’s Chief Information Officer will provide the vision and leadership necessary for the agency’s cloud-computing modernization efforts, according to FCC Managing Director Steven VanRoekel.

“His work will make our operational expenditures more effective in out years, providing a reliable means of engagement for the consumers and industries we serve,” said VanRoekel.

Schwartz, Professor of Economics at Georgetown University, was hired as the Chief Economist in the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis for his economic expertise and wide range of telecommunications experience.

Jonathan Baker, who is the outgoing Chief Economist, and Gregory Rosston, Deputy Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, will both serve as Senior Economists for Transactions to work on the Commission’s reviews of the AT&T-T-Mobile and AT&T-Qualcomm transactions.

Chairman Genachowski said, “The Commission has come to rely heavily on the analyses of the Chief Economist and his role in building the agency’s economic capabilities, and I look forward to that continuing under Marius.”