Board of National Geographic Partners joint venture of 21st Century Fox and National Geographic Society names Gary Knell, president-CEO of the society, to succeed Declan Moore as CEO, National Geographic Partners, effective March 1; also effective March 1, the society's Michael Ulica named interim president-CEO ... National Retail Federation hires from George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security Christian Beckner to head its cybersecurity program ... National Taxpayers Union hires Kevin Glass, ex-Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, as vice president-communications and outreach.
Microsoft hires Allison Halataei from House Ways and Means Committee to U.S. government affairs team as director-congressional affairs, focusing on House Republicans, and promotes John Sampson in government affairs office to lead team focused on Azure cloud business ... Akin Gump hires Mark Aitken, ex-Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, as senior policy adviser-communications practice, working on autonomous vehicle issues ... Raycom Media promotes Ellenann Yelverton to vice president-general counsel, succeeding Rebecca Bryan, retired at the end of 2017 ... Windstream promotes Drew Smith to senior vice president-financial planning and assistant treasurer.
Alphabet hires for Google Fiber/Webpass Dinni Jain, ex-Time Warner Cable, as CEO, Access ... Sam Black detailed to Senate Commerce Committee minority staff from Office of Management and Budget and working now with Space Subcommittee staff; past employers include Satellite Industry Association ... Wiley Rein re-adds Federal Election Commissioner Lee Goodman, named partner and member, Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, including working on free speech, effective Feb. 20; Goodman's last day at FEC is Feb. 16, spokeswomen for the agency and the law firm tell us ... AT&T moves Judy Dobies to director-general manager-national business for the Mid-Atlantic region ... WOW hires Nancy McGee, ex-Starz Entertainment, as chief marketing and sales officer.
President Donald Trump names Kenneth Johnson, general manager-CEO of Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, as Rural Utilities Service administrator at the Department of Agriculture ... Vivid Seats online ticket marketplace hires Christopher Libertelli, ex-Netflix, as senior vice president-business and legal affairs ... 21st Century Fox's Fox Networks Group promotes Jeff Hughes to president, Digital Consumer Group ... National Venture Capital Association appoints from GE Ventures Stephanie Volk as vice president-development ... Raycom Media moves Dianne Wilson to vice president-human resources ... Digital Services Exchange IoT interoperability group begins; chair is Mike Mulica, ex-Synchronoss.
NTIA hires Anne Veigle, ex-Communications Daily, as director-Office of Public Affairs ... Arnold & Porter hires from Hogan Lovells Dori Hanswirth and Theresa House as partners, Intellectual Property Group, global Media & Entertainment practice ... Digital education firm 2U, Inc. hires Katie Race Brin, ex-FTC, as chief privacy officer ... Kroll expands job of Managing Director Benedetto Demonte as North America leader, Cyber Security and Investigations Practice ... Coriant hires Vikram Shanbhag, ex-Teya Ventures, as managing director-Asia Pacific south ... President Donald Trump nominates Charles Cook, C. Cook Advisory Services, to be chief financial officer, Department of Homeland Security ... New to Alliance for Women in Media Foundation national board for 2018: Joyce Fitch, Beasley Broadcast Group, and Diane Schwartz, Access Intelligence.
FCC Disability Advisory Committee outgoing designated federal officer Elaine Gardner (see 1802010019 and 1802010044) a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Disability Rights Office attorney-adviser, retires from the commission March 2, and leaves the committee Feb. 28, an agency spokesman says ... Kurtin law firm hires antitrust and legal expert David Olasov, ex-Olasov firm, as of counsel; his clients have included media service companies ... Sony promotes Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida to president-CEO, effective April 1, succeeding Kazuo Hirai, who will become chairman.
Wilkinson Barker hires as senior counsels Ronald Siegel, Richard Helmick and Ellen Edmundson, working on broadcast regulation and ex-Cohn and Marks, ending operations ... Mintz Levin hires new technology/wireless law expert Laura Stefani as of counsel, Communications practice, which also adds Elana Reman Safner from K&L Gates as associate, working on cable and broadband ... Davis Polk adds intellectual property litigator who has represented streaming-video and cable companies Ashok Ramani from Keker & Van Nest as partner, Litigation Department.
Spectrum Co ATSC 3.0 spectrum consortium founded by Sinclair and Nexstar hires John Hane, ex-Pillsbury Winthrop, as president ... FCC Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force Chief of Staff Thom Parisi leaving agency to return to private sector ... Moses & Singer expands Intellectual Property practice, naming as partners Toby Butterfield from Frankfurt Kurnit and Gregory Shatan from Bortstein Legal Group ... CTA promotes Jean Foster to senior vice president-marketing and communications, new post ... Ribbon Communications moves Tony Scarfo to executive vice president-products and research and development; John McCready, who had that job and was chief strategy officer, remains in latter post; Scarfo left predecessor firm Sonus in 2016 and was doing consulting.
WOW hires David Brunick, ex-Adelphia Communications, as chief human resources officer ... Sinclair hires TV executive who most recently founded a startup William Ballard as general manager, WPDE-TV Florence, South Carolina, and overseeing the company providing services to WWMB Florence ... National Association of Manufacturers adds lawyers to Manufacturers’ Center for Legal Action: Peter Tolsdorf hired as vice president-litigation and deputy general counsel, succeeding Quentin Riegel, retiring; and Lindsey de la Torre joins as executive director, Manufacturers’ Accountability Project and special counsel, MCLA.
Meredith board elects Chairman-CEO Steve Lacy executive chairman and elects Chief Operating Officer-President Tom Harty president-CEO, effective Feb. 1 ... Dentons adds entertainment and sports commercial litigator from Greenberg Traurig Mark Trigg as partner, Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice ... Cox Enterprises promotes Paul Scolese to vice president-government affairs and Andre Reese to vice president-information systems operations ... Communications Workers of America promotes Online Communications Director Beth Allen to CWA communications director, succeeding Candice Johnson, retiring effective Feb. 1.