As House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., prepares to take over the Commerce Committee, he said those continuing on the committee include: Mike Bloomquist, as deputy staff director; Karen Christian, committee general counsel; and Peter Kielty, deputy general counsel ... AT&T Vice Chairman Ralph de la Vega is retiring, effective Dec. 31, the company said in an SEC filing that also said AT&T Mexico CEO Thaddeus Arroyo will be appointed CEO to the parent company's business solutions and international unit, effective Jan. 1 ... Fiber to the Home Council Americas adds Ancilla Brady, ex-Telecommunications Industry Association, as director-membership and industry relations ... Carlile Patchen hires lawyer Alan Wernick, ex-Quarles & Brady, to business department, focusing on technology, intellectual property and privacy/cybersecurity.
BakerHostetler hires Greg Orlando, ex-aide on communications and technology policy to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., as senior adviser, Federal Policy team ... Vivendi moves Caroline Le Masne de Chermont, who had been a vice president, to head-legal affairs, Vivendi Group ... Powermat Technologies hires Elad Dubzinski, ex-Lucid, as CEO ... Time Warner's Turner elevates to senior vice presidents Curtis Lelash and Tramm Wigzell, both for original series at Cartoon Network, to expand original video and multiplatform programming ... Retiring effective in March from Disney is Geri Wang, president-ABC sales.
Incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., hires onetime staffer Ray Baum as staff director, succeeding Gary Andres; Baum is leaving NAB, where he was a vice president-government relations ... Verizon elevates Robert Fisher to senior vice president-federal government relations, succeeding Peter Davidson, retiring (see 1612020037) … Stepping down from 21st Century Fox is Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Rick Lane, one of the company's top lobbyists who also had been vice chairman of its PAC, effective Jan. 1 ... President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Linda McMahon, WWE co-founder and ex-CEO, to be administrator, Small Business Administration.
Leaving office of incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., is Chief of Staff Brian MacDonald ... Information Technology Industry Council hires Eminence Griffin, ex-aide to House Small Business Committee ranking member Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., as director-federal procurement and legislative counsel, IT Alliance for the Public Sector ... Wilson Sonsini said those promoted to partner, effective Feb. 1, included: Matthew Argenti and Sabrina Poulos, both for patents and innovation; Cédric Burton, privacy and data protection; and James Huie, corporate, including the technology industry.
Ligado hires Bill Davenport, ex-FCC Enforcement Bureau, as senior vice president/deputy general counsel-regulatory affairs ... A FairPoint director will join the Consolidated Communications board (see 1612050030) as Consolidated takes over Fairpoint, the buyer said in an SEC filing; upon completion of the $1.5 billion deal, Bob Udell will continue as president-CEO of the combined company; Paul Sunu is FairPoint CEO; a spokeswoman told us that it's too soon to say if he will have a role post-closing ... Viacom promotes Tom Gorke to executive vice president-content distribution, succeeding Denise Denson, leaving the company ... Cinnamon Mueller elevates Scott Friedman to partner, effective Jan. 1; he works with cable, broadband and telecom clients ... Rob Roy, ex-Comcast, joins Sprint as chief digital officer.
Sprint names Patrick Doyle, ex-DirecTV, to its board, chairing the Audit Committee … Peter Davidson to retire as Verizon senior vice president-federal government relations at the end of the year … Evine Live names Lori Riley, ex-Target, senior vice president-chief human resources officer … Steven Wilf, law professor at University of Connecticut and former Register of Copyrights, becomes Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office for 2016-17 academic year ... Appointees by President Barack Obama: Jane Holl Lute, board member at Center for Internet Security, as member of U.S. Military Academy board of visitors; and to National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, Peter Altabef, Unisys; John Donovan, AT&T Technology and Operations; Steve Smith, Equinix; Jeffrey Storey, Level 3 Communications.
Frontier Communications Executive Vice President-External Affairs Kathleen Abernathy stepped down, effective Nov. 18, the telco said in a Nov. 25 SEC filing; she remains chairwoman, America’s Best Communities Prize Campaign, and now is senior adviser, doing both until retiring, effective April 21; her responsibilities are being transitioned through that time to transfer to Executive Vice President-General Counsel Mark Nielsen; Abernathy told us that once she reaches full retirement in April, she will remain on several boards and also do consulting ... Wilkinson Barker hires Lynne Montgomery, ex-FCC Media Bureau, as counsel, focusing on satellite regulation/transactions and international coordination of licensing.
Promoted in Wiley Rein elections, the law firm said, were, to partners: Shawn Chang, member of the Privacy, Public Policy, and Telecom, Media & Technology practices; Karin Hessler, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; Rachel Hunnicutt, practices including Intellectual Property; Christopher Mills, Corporate, Government Contracts, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; and Brian Walsh, Government Contracts, Intellectual Property and Litigation practices; to of counsel: Edgar Class, Telecom, Media & Technology practice; and to special counsel: Tessa Capeloto, International Trade practice; Kathryne Dickerson, Telecom, Media & Technology and FTC Regulation practices; and Jason O’Brien, practices including Litigation.
Joining Mayer Brown Cybersecurity & Data Privacy practice as a partner in Washington, D.C., is David Simon, ex-Sidley Austin ... Intel names Tom Lantzsch, ex-Arm, which SoftBank previously agreed to buy, to join its executive leadership team as senior vice president-general manager, IoT Group ... Hearst Television elevates Branden Frantz to president-general manager, WLWT Cincinnati, effective Jan. 1, succeeding Richard Dyer, returning to Tegna, where he recently was hired as president-general manager, WUSA Washington, effective Jan. 2 (see 1611210025) ... Vivint Smart Home hires David Porter, ex-Cummins, as chief procurement officer.
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance hires Kalpak Gude, ex-OneWeb, as president; outgoing Executive Director H Nwana becomes the group's executive director emeritus and remains a spokesman for the alliance ... Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences board names Mike Fischer, ex-Amazon and elsewhere in the videogame industry, as interim president, succeeding Martin Rae, who stepped down in October ... Among those elected Simpson Thacher partners, effective Jan. 1, were Abram Ellis, in the Washington office, focused on antitrust including regulatory issues and international deals ... Alion Science and Technology promotes Bruce Samuelsen to chief operating officer ... Nexstar adds Traci Scott Wilkinson, ex-21st Century Fox's Fox Television Stations, as vice president-general manager; she returns to KASW Phoenix; at that station, in addition to her new jobs, she also helps lead associated digital services, including YourPHX.com.