Newly appointed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is wasting no time getting his staff in order, as he has appointed Microsoft alum Steven Van Roekel as managing director and Austin Schlick as General Counsel. Van Roekel, an 18-year IT and management veteran, made a name for himself as an executive in Microsoft's Windows and Tools division, and prior to that he served as a strategist and assistant to company founder Bill Gates. Tasked with overseeing the FCC's operations, Van Roekel replaces acting managing director Mary Beth Richards, who was working under acting FCC chairman Michael Copps. Richards now becomes the special counsel to Genachowski on FCC reform.
Austin Schlick, who most recently served in the Maryland attorney general's office as chief of the civil division, is no stranger to the FCC. Shclick previously served in the FCC as the Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and as Acting General Counsel. Like Genachowski, Schlick also served as a law clerk under former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
For more:
- Here's the official release
- Multichannel News has this report
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