FCC fills senior staff positions, including Chief of the Office of Workplace Diversity

(December 14, 2009) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has announced the appointment of Joel Gurin as Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and Thomas Wyatt as Chief of the Office of Workplace Diversity. Stuart Benjamin will be joining the Commission as the agency's first Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He will reside in the Office of Strategic Planning and will work on spectrum reform, First Amendment issues, and long-term strategy.
 
"These talented individuals have extensive experience in the private sector, the academy, and in public service, including here at the FCC," said Chairman Genachowski. "I look forward to drawing on their expertise as the Commission pursues smart, fact-based policies that protect and empower consumers, promote competition, and maximize innovation and investment."

Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Joel Gurin -- Mr. Gurin has a diverse background combining nonprofit leadership, print and Web publishing, and expertise in consumer issues. He most recently served as Acting President of NARSAD; as Acting Editor-in-Chief for State of the USA; and as Senior Vice President of Rodale Interactive. Prior to that, Mr. Gurin was Executive Vice President of Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, for almost a decade. He launched and grew Consumer Reports' Web site, the world's largest information-based paid subscription site. Mr. Gurin began his career as a science and medical journalist, winning several national awards. Mr. Gurin received his B.A. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University, magna cum laude.

Chief, Office of Workplace Diversity, Thomas Wyatt -- Mr. Wyatt has spent much of his career at the FCC extensively involved in complaint and other consumer-related activities. Most recently, he served as Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Mr. Wyatt also served in that Bureau's predecessor, the Consumer Information Bureau, as Associate Bureau Chief for Operations and was Senior Counsel for Disabilities Enforcement in the Enforcement Bureau. He began his career at the FCC in 1984 as a staff attorney in the former Mass Media Bureau. He joined the Common Carrier Bureau in 1986 where he served as Chief of the Formal Complaints and Investigations Branch and, later, Associate Chief of the Enforcement Division. Mr. Wyatt received his B.A. from the University of Alabama and his J.D. from American University's Washington College of Law.

Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Office of Strategic Planning, Stuart Benjamin -- Professor Benjamin is on leave from Duke Law School, where he is the Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law. He specializes in telecommunications law, the First Amendment, and administrative law. Before teaching law, Professor Benjamin clerked for Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court; worked as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice; worked as an associate with Professor Laurence Tribe; and served as a staff attorney for the Legal Resources Centre in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is co-author of Telecommunications Law and Policy (1st ed. 2001, 2nd ed. 2006), has written numerous law review articles, and has provided testimony to the Senate as a legal expert. He received his J.D. and B.A. from Yale.



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