Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) designates Commissioner Dan Scripps as chair, Public Service Commission, replacing Sally Talberg, who remains on the commission; she resigned as chairman due to being considered to serve on Electric Reliability Council of Texas board, a position needing Texas Public Utility Commission OK; if that occurs, she would resign from the PSC before joining the board in January ... Internet Infrastructure Coalition and Domain Name Association plan to combine; spokesperson tells us the joint board will include Melinda Clem, from Afilias, as chairwoman, and James Bladel, GoDaddy; Christian Dawson is executive director; he's on the board of i2C, where he's also executive director and co-founder.
Internet Association hires, from General Services Administration Technology Transformation Services, Omid Ghaffari-Tabrizi as director-cloud policy ... FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel says her aide Jessica Martinez leaving to be legislative director for Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas ... Relativity Space appoints Caryn Schenewerk, ex-SpaceX, vice president-regulatory and government affairs.
Ex-Solicitor General Noel Francisco rejoins Jones Day ... Digital Licensee Coordinator hires Lauren Danzy, ex-SoundExchange, as director-operations and outreach; DLC represents digital music services in the music licensing system created by the Music Modernization Act ... As Skydio drone maker raises $100 million, hires include ex-U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General Brendan Groves as head-regulatory and policy affairs; Mark Cranney named chief operating officer, he's ex-Signalfx, which Splunk bought, and also ex-Andreessen Horowitz, a Skydio investor; and Chief Marketing Officer Alberto Farronato joins from Gremlin.
Ballard Spahr adds Jay Coogan, ex-DLA Piper, as partner, Business and Transactions Department, working on deals, with clients including in technology ... Sidley Austin adds Nicolai Schwarz-Gondek, ex-O’Melveny & Myers, as partner, Private Equity practice, working on deals including information services and technology, media and software ... Twilio adds from Facebook Mike Buckley as vice president-corporate communications ... Rockwell Automation advances Patricia Contreras to vice president, she's the "first Latina to lead the company’s global public affairs."
Patent and Trademark Office announces Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reappoints Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld to a second five-year term; original term ends July 31, and new one ends July 31, 2025 ... Defense Secretary Mark Esper announces U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios designated acting undersecretary-research and engineering; White House Office of Science and Technology Policy says Kratsios remains CTO; Esper also says Mark Lewis is acting deputy undersecretary defense-research and engineering and remains director-defense research and engineering for modernization.
Telecom analyst Jennifer Fritzsche leaves Wells Fargo, she tells us ... TikTok adds from office of House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., Michael Hacker, named the company's director-global public policy ... At Waitr on-demand food ordering and delivery, lawyer Thomas Pritchard appointed general counsel; Mark D’Ambrosio, ex-Centerfield Media, named chief sales officer; and David Cronin, ex-iPayment, chief engagement officer ... NGA 911 hires Mike DeWeese, ex-Intrado, as vice president-technology.
CPB Senior Vice President-System Development and Media Strategy Ted Krichels retiring ... Paul Grewal from Facebook joins Coinbase as chief legal officer ... Intellectual Ventures hires Arvin Patel for chief operating officer, Invention Investment Fund, September start expected; he's ex-TiVo, which just combined with Xperi ... Axiologic Solutions names Louis Chabot, ex-Perspecta, chief technology officer, new post at the federal IT vendor.
New to Mintz Technology, Communications & Media Practice as members from Davis Wright are Scott Thompson and Daniel Reing, with former also chair of the section’s Communications Infrastructure Litigation Practice ... Tampa Electric and TECO Peoples Gas add from Duke Energy Mike Sewell as director-federal affairs ... Exiting bankruptcy, subsea cable systems operator Seaborn taps board members Pete Hayes, founder and CEO of Middleburg Venture Partners, for interim CEO; and Don Shassian, ex-Outfront Media and previously Frontier Communications, as interim chief financial officer; ex-CEO Larry Schwartz and former CFO Roger Kuebel leave.
U.S. Agency for Global Media new CEO Michael Pack names James Miles, founding partner of Haynsworth Baldwin, acting CEO, Open Technology Fund ... Waymo's new head-global public policy is Michelle Peacock, ex-Turo … Lina Khan, antitrust expert who has worked for U.S. government, joining Columbia law faculty, professor Tim Wu says; she and school don't provide further details ... In Finsbury, The Glover Park Group and Hering Schuppener becoming Finsbury Glover Hering, those WPP conglomerate companies combined launch in early 2021: Finsbury founder Roland Rudd and GPG founder Carter Eskew are co-chairs; Hering Schuppener Managing Partner Alexander Geiser is CEO; WPP CEO Mark Read joins "integrated" company's board.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai names Deputy General Counsel Ashley Boizelle also acting general counsel July 13-Sept. 4, while General Counsel Tom Johnson on paternity leave ... National Music Publishers’ Association promotes Amelia Binder to senior vice president-government affairs; Kartraice Hooper to vice president-external affairs and events; Stephanie Li to vice president-membership and partnerships; and Briana Berkley to director-operations, remaining also executive assistant to CEO David Israelite and Executive Vice President Danielle Aguirre; Berkley also becomes lead liaison with some consultants.