WASHINGTON: Blair Levin, former chief of staff for FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, is returning to the commission. Acting chairman Michael Copps said today that Levin will return to help the FCC coordinate the development of its national broadband plan.
Levin has most recently been a managing director at Stifel Nicolaus, the St. Louis brokerage that acquired Legg Mason’s Capital Markets Group in 2005. Levin was based in the Washington, D.C. with Legg Mason at the time as the firm’s principal telecom and media analyst. He was with the FCC from December 1993 through October 1997, when the commission completed the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act. Levin also served on President Obama’s Technology transition team with Julius Genachowski, the president’s nominee to head the commission.
Other personnel changes announced today by Copps include the retirement of Inspector General Kent Nilsson, after serving at the commission for 30 years. He will be replaced by David Hunt, who’s currently serving as assistant IG.
Mary Beth Richards, currently deputy general counsel, will serve as acting managing director. Monica Shah Desai, chief of the FCC Media Bureau, will become special advisor to the general counsel. Robert Ratcliffe, currently deputy chief of the Enforcement Bureau, will serve as acting chief of the Media Bureau. -- Deborah D. McAdams
