SpectrumTalk

Ruth Milkman ==> WTB

Chairman Genachowski's wireless team is coming into place now with the following announcement today:

Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced four members of the senior leadership of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, who will join the other senior staff in WTB. The announcement includes: Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman, Senior Deputy Chief James Schlichting, Deputy Chief Renee Roland Crittendon, and Deputy Chief John S. Leibovitz.

“This bureau will play a pivotal role in promoting innovation, competition, job creation and investment in the wireless sector,” said Chairman Genachowski. “I am delighted to have a Wireless Telecommunications Bureau team with the expertise to help seize the opportunity for the United States to lead the world in mobile communications.”

Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Ruth Milkman: Ms. Milkman is currently Special Counsel, leading the transition effort in the Chairman’s office. Ms. Milkman served at the Commission between 1986 and 1998 in a variety of positions, including Deputy Chief of the International and Common Carrier Bureaus, and Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt, with responsibilityfor wireless issues and spectrum policy. Ms. Milkman also was a partner at Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney, LLC in Washington, D.C. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Senior Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, James Schlichting: Mr. Schlichting has been at the FCC for nearly 24 years, most recently as Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of WTB, and previously as Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, Deputy Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau, Chief of the Pricing Policy Division in the Common Carrier Bureau, and Chief of the Policy and Program Planning Division of the Common Carrier Bureau. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Schlichting practiced communications law at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Luther M. Swygert and Philip W. Tone of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Renee Roland Crittendon: Ms. Crittendon has been at the FCC for eight years. She most recently served as Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor in the Office of Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein where she was responsible for spectrum, broadband, international and public safety issues. Before joining the Commissioner’s office in 2007, Ms. Crittendon served as Deputy Bureau Chief in the Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to that, she was Chief of the Wireline Bureau’s Competition Policy Division. Ms. Crittendon also served as Associate Division Chief of the MobilitDivision of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Before joining the Commission, Ms. Crittendon served as Deputy Chief Counsel –Telecommunications for Prism Communication Services, Inc, and was in private practice with a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in media, wireline and satellite issues.

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, John S. Leibovitz: Mr. Leibovitz was a staff member on the Presidential Transition Team, where he helped to coordinate the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform working group. Prior to the transition, Mr. Leibovitz worked as an entrepreneur and strategy consultant in the telecommunications industry, with an emphasis on the wireless sector. He started his business career with McKinsey& Company, in New York. He has written about technology and communications policy in the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of Law and Technology.

Another interesting appointment is

Managing Director, Steven VanRoekel: Mr. VanRoekel has over 18 years of Information Technology and management experience and was most recently a top executive in the Windows Server and Tools division at Microsoft Corporation. Mr. VanRoekel held various positions in his 15 years at Microsoft, including managing Microsoft’s cross-industryWeb Services team and serving as Speech and StrategyAssistant to Bill Gates. Mr. VanRoekel alsoassisted Mr. Gates in his transition from CEO of Microsoft to Chief Software Architect and advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on its shift in giving philosophyfrom a focus on technologyto a focus on world health. While at Microsoft, Mr. VanRoekel was awarded numerous honors for management and marketing excellence, including Microsoft’s Redmond Manager of the Year, and consumer marketing awards, including “Best in Show” at the Consumer Electronics Show for the use of innovative marketing and new media.

The Office of the Managing Director has been a backwater of incompetence that has badly affected the whole FCC for years. It essentially has no policy responsibility but provides the infrastructures for the FCC. Thus it manages the website and the internal computer network such as the ECFS system we use for filing and reviewing comments. It is responsible for personnel issues and has hindered effective recruiting of engineers for years. I hope Mr. Van Roekel, having come from the real world, can clean up this mess.