Satellite Industry Association elects Julie Zoller of Amazon as chair, Danielle Pineres of Planet Labs PBC as vice chair and Peter Davidson of Intelsat as treasurer ... Maryland Public Service Commission appoints Christina Ochoa, former state assistant attorney general, as director-legislative affairs and assistant general counsel … Motion Picture Association renews Chairman-CEO Charles Rivkin’s contract for a third three-year term.

Computer & Communications Industry Association hires Brian McMillan, former chief counsel and legislative director to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., as vice president-federal affairs ... National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology, which is expected to operate Chips for America National Semiconductor Technology Center once established, hires Deirdre Hanford, from Synoposis, as organization’s first CEO … George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center names Roger Nober, ex-BNSF Railway, as director.

Utah Public Service Chair Thad LeVar retires … Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) announces retirement of Chief Information Officer Ed Toner, effective Feb. 16, with IT Administrator Mark Neemann to become interim CIO during search … Under succession plan, Info-Tech Research Group promotes Chief Product Officer Tom Zehren to CEO, effective Feb. 2, when current CEO David Godfrey moves to chief growth officer, newly created role.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) appoints Public Service Commission member Summer Strand to succeed Rebecca Cameron Valcq as chairperson; Valcq is leaving the Evers administration, effective Feb. 2 ... Cisco hires Evan Viau, ex-House Commerce Committee, as senior manager-government affairs … Hotwire, global communications and marketing consultancy, promotes Ute Hildebrandt to CEO-continental Europe and Martin Opercan to managing director-Germany ... BCN Telecom promotes Ryan Kelly to executive vice president-sales ... News Corp announces Disney’s Arthur Bochner as its next executive vice president-chief communications officer to replace Jim Kennedy when he retires later this year.

American Enterprise Institute announces hires for newly created Center for Technology, Science, and Energy: Will Rinehart, from the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, as a senior fellow and Roger Pielke, University of Colorado Boulder professor, as a nonresident senior fellow … Local government/telecom/utility practice at Kissinger & Fellman joins with Wilson Williams to become Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman, with Kissinger & Fellman’s partners Ken Fellman and Brandon Dittman and associates Wilson Scarbeary and Bobby Riley at the combined firm: Fellman and Dittman as partners, Scarbeary an associate and Riley senior counsel.

CTIA promotes Sarah Yi to assistant vice president-executive director, ACTwireless; Justin Perkins to director-cybersecurity and policy; and Courtney Tolerico to director-regulatory affairs … Ritter Communications advances Heath Simpson to CEO, effective Jan. 31, succeeding Alan Morse, moving to executive chairman ... Sinclair advances Ryan Moore to senior vice president-chief revenue officer.

Telecommunications Law Professionals adds Lawler Metzger’s Emily Daniels and Andrew Fois as a member and an associate, respectively, and also adds Kellogg Hansen’s Ryan Walsh as an associate ... Sinclair hires former NAB Deputy General Counsel Patrick McFadden as senior vice president-global public policy and communications (see 2401080070) ... Lumen Technologies promotes Ashley Haynes-Gaspar to executive vice president-chief revenue officer ... Twilio promotes Khozema Shipchandler to CEO and adds him to its board, succeeding co-founder Jeff Lawson, leaving as CEO and as a board member; Jeff Epstein, lead independent director since 2017, appointed board chair.

Sony Ventures names Kazuhito Hadano new CEO, in addition to his current roles as Sony Wireless Communications corporate executive officer, and chief financial officer, Sony Network Communications Europe; Gen Tsuchikawa, previous Sony Ventures CEO and chief investment officer, moves to chairman ... Ad tech company VideoAmp taps former Tribune Media CEO Peter Liguori, also former Discovery Communications and Fox Entertainment, as executive chairman; Ross McCray relinquishes his CEO role, moving to active founder, board member and shareholder; former Nielsen senior executive Peter Bradbury, from PwC, joins VideoAmp executive leadership team in new role as chief commercial and growth officer; newly promoted at VideoAmp are Tony Fagan to president-technology and strategy, and Josh Hudgins to chief product officer ... Boomi, cloud-native connectivity platform, hires Matt Heinz, ex-Amplitude, as chief revenue officer ... Sabio Holdings, provider of connected TV and over-the-top advertising platforms, announces departure of Chief Growth Officer Jon Stimmel ... Great Plains Communications promotes Joseph Pellegrini to president-chief operating officer … Gogo announces immediate retirement of Robert Mundheim, board member since 2012.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announces Arpan Sura, from the Wireless Bureau, as legal adviser (see 2401040043) … Pierson Ferdinand tech-focused law firm launches, with more than 130 partners representing 80-plus practices areas including partners, all from FisherBroyles: Rachel Huffstetler and Keats Quinalty, both intellectual property; Adam Ettinger, chief technology officer; Vincent Bushnell, cyber risk, privacy and data Security; Jed Davis, Charles Geitner and Dan McGuire, cybersecurity and privacy; Maryam Meseha, cybersecurity and data protection; and Tony Onorato, cybersecurity, cyber risk and data breach … Brent Skorup announces he’s left George Mason University's Mercatus Center to become a research fellow at the Cato Institute's Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.

ACA Connects hires three vice presidents: Zamir Ahmed, ex-NAB, for external affairs; Olivia Shields, ex-House Commerce Committee, public affairs and communications; and Max Staloff, ex-Jenner & Block and former FCC, for regulatory affairs … USTelecom appoints Keller and Heckman’s Kathleen Slattery Thompson as vice president-policy and advocacy … Akin promotes intellectual property lawyer David Lee to partner … Troutman Pepper Names patent and IP partner Tate Tischner as managing partner, Rochester office … Former Lawler Metzger partner Jim Falvey announces opening of The Law Office of James C. Falvey, representing fiber infrastructure and other telecom providers.