Genachowski Names FCC Managing Director, General Counsel


Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has named his managing director and general counsel, the first in a series of announcements to come.

Managing Director Steven VanRoekel has more than 18 years in the information technology world. Fifteen of those were spent at Microsoft, where VanRoekel was most recently a top executive in the Windows Server and Tools division. VanRoekel also helped company Bill Gates transition from chief executive officer there to chief software architect, and he advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mary Beth Richards had been acting managing director under Acting Chairman Michael Copps before being named by Genachowski as special counsel to the chairman for FCC reform.

General Counsel Austin Schlick comes from the Office of the Maryland Attorney General where he was most recently chief of the Civil Division, responsible for the state’s civil litigation. Schlick is returning to the FCC, having previously served as deputy general counsel for litigation and as acting general counsel. Like Genachowksi, Schlick is also a former law clerk to a Supreme Court justice, in his case Sandra Day O’Connor.