Meet the new FCC

Chairman Julius Genachowski
Genachowski, a Harvard Law School classmate of President Obama who played a key role in shaping Obama's technology policy during his presidential campaign, has spent many years in both the public and private sectors. From 1997 to 2005, he was an executive at IAC/InterActive. He also co-founded LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, and was a special advisor at General Atlantic. During this time, Genachowski helped startup technology companies get up and running. Before jumping into the private sector, Genachowski served as chief counsel to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from 1994 to 1997. He was also special counsel to then-FCC General Counsel (later Chairman) William Kennard. Genachowski also served as a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice David Souter and Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. He received a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D from Harvard Law School.

Commissioner Michael Copps
Copps has been a commissioner at the FCC since 2001 and was nominated for a second term in 2005. From 1998 until January 2001, he served as the assistant secretary of commerce for trade development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he worked to improve market access and market share for a wide range of American industries, including information technologies and telecommunications. From 1993 to 1998, he served as deputy assistant secretary for basic industries, a component of the Trade Development Unit. Copps has been in Washington since 1970, when he joined the staff of Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), eventually rising to become his chief of staff. He received a B.A. from Wofford College and earned a Ph.D. in United States history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Commissioner Robert McDowell
McDowell was first appointed to the FCC by former President George W. Bush in 2006. Prior to joining the FCC, McDowell spent nearly 16 years in the private sector communications industry. He served as senior vice president at the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), where he advocated on behalf of facilities-based telecommunications service providers and their supplier partners before Congress, the White House and executive agencies. Before joining CompTel in Feb. 1999, McDowell served as the executive vice president and general counsel of America's Carriers Telecommunications Association (ACTA), which merged with CompTel at that time. He was appointed by former Virginia Gov. George Allen to the Governor's Advisory Board for a Safe and Drug-Free Virginia, and has twice been a candidate for the Virginia General Assembly. McDowell was graduated cum laude from Duke University and received a J.D. from the College of William and Mary.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
Clyburn, the daughter of House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), served for 11 years on the South Carolina Public Service Commission of South Carolina. She served as chair of the PSC from July 2002 through June 2004. Recently, Clyburn served as the chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Washington Action Committee. She is also a former chair of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Prior to her work in the public sector, Clyburn spent 14 years as the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. She received a B.S. in banking, finance and economics from the University of South Carolina.

Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker
Baker served in the administration of former President George W. Bush as acting assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. She first joined NTIA as a senior advisor in January 2004. While at NTIA, Baker advised and represented the White House on both domestic and international telecommunications and information policy activities. One of the most eventful (and, according to critics, poorly run) programs Baker was in charge of was the coupon program for the digital TV transition. Before joining NTIA, Baker served as vice president of the consulting firm Williams Mullen Strategies, where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property and international trade issues. Baker was also the senior counsel at Covad Communications from 2000 to 2002, and was the director of Congressional affairs at CTIA from 1998 to 2000. She earned a B.A. from Washington & Lee University and a J.D. from the University of Houston.

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