FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr adds as policy adviser Greg Watson, ex-White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he "led efforts to increase broadband access through the American Broadband Initiative" ... Nebraska Public Service Commissioners elects for coming year: as chair, Dan Watermeier, and vice chair Tim Schram, who also is co-vice chair, NARUC Telecom Committee.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announce transition spokesperson TJ Ducklo as incoming administration's deputy press secretary; before the Biden campaign, Ducklo was senior communications director at NBC News and ex-MPA; Biden also taps New York City Emergency Management Department Commissioner Deanne Criswell for Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator; and Biden picks Eric Lander as director, Office of Science and Technology Policy and presidential science adviser, who will be a Cabinet member for the first time; Lander is founding director, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and during Obama administration was external co-chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; Kei Koizumi named OSTP chief of staff and Narda Jones, ex-Senate Commerce Committee and FCC before that, for OSTP legislative affairs director.
O’Melveny hires data privacy and policy expert Tod Cohen, ex-Twitter, as partner ... Connected Nation promotes Heather Gate to vice president-digital inclusion ... Discovery hires Michele Barney from AT&T as president-affiliate distribution ... Qualcomm hires Luiz Tonisi from Nokia as president, Qualcomm Latin America and vice president, Qualcomm Servicos de Telecomunicacoes.
George Mason University Mercatus Center adds outgoing FTC General Counsel Alden Abbott as senior research fellow ... Public Knowledge names Montana Williams, ex-Evans & Associates, policy fellow ... President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announce more National Security Council members, with new post of deputy national security adviser-cyber and emerging technology; Anne Neuberger, who led NSA election security, becomes director-cybersecurity ... Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's Kevin Benacci says he's joining Targeted Victory, reportedly as vice president-corporate practice, working on cybersecurity.
Center for Democracy & Technology adds Samir Jain, ex-Jones Day, as director-policy; and Ari Goldberg from Bipartisan Policy Center as director-communications ... Facebook hires civil rights attorney Roy Austin from Harris Wiltshire to start "civil rights organization" as vice president-civil rights and deputy general counsel ... NPR CEO John Lansing hires Leora Hanser from U.S. Soccer Foundation to join NPR Feb. 1 as chief development officer.
Internet Association hires NCTA Chief Operating Officer Dane Snowden as president-CEO, effective Feb. 1 ... NCTA President-CEO Michael Powell promotes Nilda Gumbs to chief of staff, a job Snowden did previously, joining the executive office and taking on similar responsibilities to Snowden's; Mark Kulish moves up to chief administrative and financial officer ... CTIA advances to assistant vice presidents: Benjamin Aron for state regulatory affairs; Jen Oberhausen, regulatory affairs; and Melanie Tiano, cybersecurity and privacy.
Montana Public Service Commission elects James Brown chairman, succeeding Bob Lake, term-limited after eight years at the agency; Brad Johnson reelected vice chair; and Brown and Jennifer Fielder join the PSC after being elected to four-year terms, to which Tony O’Donnell was reelected; all those commissioners are Republicans ... At Arizona Corporation Commission, Lea Marquez Peterson (R) elected chair, saying her immediate priorities include helping bring broadband "to rural communities through a broadband transition of the Arizona Universal Service Fund High-Cost Fund"; meanwhile, Marquez Peterson is sworn in for a four-year term, as are new Commissioners Anna Tovar (D) and Jim O’Connor (R); for more on the new members, see our report here.
NARUC Telecom Committee member and ex-chair and current South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner-Vice Chairman Chris Nelson elected chairman of the PUC; Commissioner Kristie Fiegen picked for vice chairperson ... California Public Utilities Commission moves Rachel Peterson to executive director, which she did on an acting basis ... MPA hires Conor McGrath from office of Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., as vice president-federal affairs.
Hudson Institute adds Mike O’Rielly, ex-FCC commissioner, as a visiting fellow in its Center for the Economics of the Internet ... Internet Association hires Amy Bos from National Association of Realtors as director-federal government affairs ... Comcast's Sky Group CEO Jeremy Darroch moves to executive chairman, Sky; Comcast Cable President-Consumer Services Dana Strong succeeds him, promoted to group CEO of Sky, reporting to Comcast Chairman-CEO Brian Roberts.
Davis Wright adds satellite and telecom lawyer Lafayette Greenfield from Milbank as partner ... Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council hires Fallon Wilson, UmanityEDU founder, as vice president-policy, leading MMTC’s work on technology, data privacy, artificial intelligence and digital-age civil rights; infrastructure, broadband connectivity and digital inclusion; and multicultural media ownership and content diversity ... Herman & Whiteaker promotes Clare Liedquist Andonov to principal, focusing on wireless and wireline broadband, auctions and communications tower compliance ... Access Partnership appoints Dileep Srihari from CompTIA as senior policy counsel, U.S. team.