New FCC Chairman Tom wheeler wasted no time installing a new FCC team Monday.
He was sworn in at the FCC sometime before 10 a.m., according to a source, and by 10:30 had announced his new lineup.
They are:
Ruth Milkman, chief of staff. Milkman had been chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
Philip Verveer, senior counselor to the chairman. He had been U.S. coordinator for international communications at State until 2013.
Gigi Sohn will be special counsel for external affairs. She had been president of Public Knowledge.
Diane Cornell will be special counsel. She had been VP for governmental affairs at Inmarsat.
Daniel Alvarez, legal advisor for engineering and technology and Wireless issues. He has been a lawyer at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher.
Renee Gregory, legal advisor for engineering, technology, wireless and incentive auction issues. She has been at the FCC since 2012 as an advisor to previous chairman Genachowski and more recently chief of staff in the Office of Engineering and Technology.
Maria Kirby will be legal advisor for media, consumer and enforcement issues. She has been a legal advisor to the chief of the Wireless Bureau.
Patrick Halley has been named acting director of the Office of Legislative Affairs. Director Greg Guice exited earlier this summer. Halley had been deputy director of the office.
Deborah Ridley will be confidential assistant to the chairman. She has been executive assistant to the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Sagar Doshi will be special assistant to the chairman. Doshi has been with Google and Protocol Link, Inc.
Jon Sallet will be interim director of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force and acting general counsel (General Counsel Sean Lev had announced he was exiting by year's end). Sallet has been a partner at law firms O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Jenner & Block and Miller, and Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin/
Jon Wilkins will be acting managing director and advisor to the chairman for management. He has been with McKinsey & Company.
Roger Sherman will be acting chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Sherman had been Democratic Chief Counsel to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and as Democratic Staff Director to its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Republican Commissioner Michael O'rielly was also sworn in Monday, but he had not announced any staffers at press time.
"ACA commends Chairman Wheeler on his senior staff appointments announced today, a very encouraging sign that the agency's new leader plans to advance his agenda with help from a team of tested public policy experts who have the critical skills and experience needed to produce positive outcomes for the American people," said American Cable Association President Matt Polka.
Sohn already has a proven policy agenda the ACA can get behind. As president of Public Knowledge, Sohn was a supporter, and PK a member, of the American Television Alliance, a group of MVPDs (including ACA) and others pushing for retransmission consent reform.
"Chairman Wheeler has assembled an All Star team to help him guide the FCC at this critical time for broadband growth and competition in the U.S." said Tom Sugrue, senior VP, government affairs, at T-Mobile USA. "We at T-Mobile look forward to working with this outstanding group of leaders."
