New Chairman Julius Genachowski settled into the FCC on Monday and immediately announced his new staff. “The FCC should be a model for excellence in government, and this extraordinarily accomplished team will help us achieve that,” he said. The new Chairman also thanked outgoing Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein for his six years of service as Adelstein heads to a new post in the Obama Administration.
Genachowski announced that Edward P. Lazarus will serve as Chief of Staff. He comes to the FCC from Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he was co-head of the firm-wide global litigation practice and a member of the firm’s management committee, overseeing more than 800 lawyers. Lazarus is also a former federal prosecutor.
Chairman Genachowski has appointed two senior advisors and two legal advisors to assist him on the full range of policy issues.
Colin Crowell will serve as Senior Counselor to the Chairman. In this role, he will serve as strategic advisor on a broad range of matters, and will also have particular responsibility for the communications, legislative, intergovernmental affairs, and public liaison functions of the agency. Crowell previously worked for more than 20 years on the staff of Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), serving on the staff of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet when Markey chaired the panel, and in the Congressman’s personal office when Markey was the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member.
Bruce Liang Gottlieb will serve as Chief Counsel to the Chairman and senior legal advisor. He served as legal advisor to Commissioner Michael Copps from 2006 to 2009.
Sherrese Smith will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for media, consumer and enforcement issues. She was most recently Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital.
Priya Aiyar will serve as Legal Advisor, with particular responsibility for wireline competition and international issues. She was most recently a partner at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans and Figel.
Sherry Gelfand will serve as Confidential Assistant to the Chairman. She served as executive assistant to the Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, from 1993 to 1996, and more recently in the private sector.
Daniel Ornstein will serve as Special Assistant to the Chairman. He comes to the FCC from CBS, where he managed several new media initiatives and helped run the network’s growing mobile business.
FCC veteran Mary Beth Richards will serve as Special Counsel to the Chairman for FCC Reform, and will head a comprehensive program to provide openness and transparency at the agency.
Ruth Milkman will lead the transition effort in the Chairman’s office. She served at the Commission between 1986 and 1998 in a variety of positions, including Deputy Chief of the International and Common Carrier Bureaus, and Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt.
