FCC chief of staff named senior fellow of USC Annenberg center
Zachary Katz, chief of staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has been appointed a senior fellow of the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His appointment begins in July, following his planned departure from the FCC after Chairman Julius Genachowski leaves the agency later this month.
As a senior fellow, Katz will help develop, lead and advise on programs and research projects related to broadband, mobile and media initiatives. He joins a distinguished group of CCLP senior fellows that includes journalists and media executives, such as Cinny Kennard, Adam Clayton Powell III and Narda Zacchino, authors and policymakers, such as Dan Glickman, Richard Reeves and Morley Winograd, and leadership scholar Warren Bennis, among others.
“I am excited to be joining USC Annenberg and contributing to the important work of its Center on Communication Leadership & Policy,” Katz said. “I look forward to working with this outstanding community of leaders and scholars to help advance the power of communications technologies and media to serve the public interest.”
University Professor Geoffrey Cowan, CCLP director and president of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, said: “Zac Katz is a brilliant legal mind who has been engaged in many of the major communication policy debates of recent years. He brings a wealth of experience to our work in this area. I am delighted that he has agreed to serve as a senior fellow.”
As FCC chief of staff, Katz manages the agency’s policymaking and operations. He previously served as Genachowski’s chief counsel and led a number of high-priority initiatives, including protecting Internet openness and creating the Connect America Fund, the largest broadband infrastructure program ever established.
Katz joined the FCC in 2009 from the Office of White House Counsel and previously practiced law at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles.
He received his law degree from Yale University, where he was editor in chief of The Yale Law Journal and a leader of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. Before law school, Katz worked with technology companies at a strategy consulting and investment firm in Silicon Valley, Calif.
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