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Janice Obuchowski

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Janice Obuchowski
United States Ambassador to the World Radiocommunications Conference
In office
2003–2003
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
In office
1989–1993
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byAlfred C. Sikes
Succeeded byLarry Irving
Personal details
Born
Janice Obuchowski

1951 (age 72–73)
Pierre, South Dakota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAlbert Halprin
EducationWellesley College
Georgetown University Law Center
Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris

Janice Obuchowski (born 1951) is an American lawyer, business executive, and former government official who served as the assistant secretary for communications and information at the United States Department of Commerce, and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. She was the first woman to lead the NTIA in the agency's history.

Early life and education

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Obuchowski was born in 1951.[1] She graduated with honors from Wellesley College in 1973 and earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1976.[2] While at Georgetown, she was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.[3] She also attended the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris.[4]

Career

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Early career

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Early in her career, Obuchowski worked as an investigator in the District of Columbia Criminal Justice Clinic.[5] She later worked in private antitrust law at various law firms and companies including NYNEX (now Verizon).[3][2]

Federal service

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Obuchowski worked at the FCC and served as senior advisor to the FCC chair Mark S. Fowler.[4] From 1982 to 1983, she was the chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau, International Policy Division.[6]

In March 1989, Obuchowski was nominated by President Bush as assistant secretary for communications and information at the Department of Commerce, and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.[7][6][8] She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 1989.[1] In the role, he served as the chief advisor to President Bush on communications and information policy.[9][10][11] In 1991, she provided testimony to Congress on the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act.[12] She also led Executive Branch advocacy for spectrum auction legislation as NTIA's administrator.[9][13][14]

In February 2003, Obuchowski was appointed by President George W. Bush as U.S. ambassador to the World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva from June 9 to July 4, 2003, where she successfully spearheaded the U.S. push for international Wi-Fi adoption.[15][16][17] In 2005, Obuchowski was a finalist with the Bush administration as a replacement chairperson to the FCC, succeeding Michael K. Powell.[18][19] The role eventually went to Kevin Martin.[20]

In 2009, she was appointed to a two-year term on the Department of Commerce's Spectrum Management Advisory Committee.[3][21]

Private sector

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After her government service, Obuchowski founded Freedom Technologies Inc., a policy consulting firm,[22] and served for a period as executive director of the High Tech DTV Coalition.[23][3] She later was an executive vice president at NextWave Wireless.[24]

She has served on the boards of several organizations and companies including Spectrumx, Frontline Wireless, Inmarsat, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Stratos Global Corporation, Qualcomm, the Federal Communications Bar Association, Catholic International University, and CSG International.[12][7][19] She has also been a guest speaker for the Federalist Society.[3][4]

She also served a term on the Telecom Board of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).[25] Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the first woman to lead the ITU has stated that Obuchowski was a mentor and inspiration to her.[26]

Works

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  • The Opportunity of Private Sector Sharing of Government Spectrum, 2014
  • The Unfinished Task of Spectrum Policy Reform, 1994

References

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  1. ^ a b Monthly Catalogue, United States Public Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1990.
  2. ^ a b "Public Papers - George Bush Library and Museum". bush41library.tamu.edu. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Hon. Janice Obuchowski". fedsoc.org. November 14, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Janice Obuchowski". SpectrumX. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies appropriations for 1991: hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, second session. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1990.
  6. ^ a b Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. 1989.
  7. ^ a b "Investors may fund nationwide public safety network". Reading Eagle. August 16, 2007. pp. A3.
  8. ^ "Nomination of Janice Obuchowski To Be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Broadcast-Cable Interface Forum | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Sableman, Mark (1997). More Speech, Not Less: Communications Law in the Information Age. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-2135-3.
  11. ^ Holden, Constance (1990). "Women in Science Policy". Science. 250 (4981): 620–620. ISSN 0036-8075.
  12. ^ a b "Janice Obuchowski". Catholic International University. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  13. ^ "Agency wants broadcast frequencies auctioned off". Record-Journal. February 28, 1991. p. 9.
  14. ^ Hazlett, Thomas W. (May 23, 2017). The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22110-7.
  15. ^ Plummer, Anne (2003). "World Radiocommunication Conference starts June 9: AMBASSADOR: U.S. READY TO DEFEND NEW PLAN FOR RADIO FREQUENCIES". Inside the Air Force. 14 (22): 13–14. ISSN 2164-8174.
  16. ^ "Production Gallery". When Wire Was King. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  17. ^ "President Bush Announces Intention to Nominate". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Labaton, Stephen (January 22, 2005). "FCC Chairman to Step Down". The New York Times.
  19. ^ a b The Polish Studies Newsletter. 2003.
  20. ^ Davidson, Paul (March 16, 2005). "Kevin Martin to succeed Powell as FCC head". USA TODAY.
  21. ^ "Commerce Department Announces Committee to Advise on Management of Nation's Airwaves | National Telecommunications and Information Administration". www.ntia.gov. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  22. ^ "Our Team | Freedom Technologies Inc". freedomtechnologiesinc.com. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  23. ^ "High-tech companies ask Congress for digital TV deadline". St. Petersburg Times. May 2, 2005. pp. 4D.
  24. ^ "Wireless carriers see rampant growth near". Toledo Blade. September 20, 1996. p. 36.
  25. ^ "ITU Newsletter. No. 4/1999. Telecom 99". www.itu.int. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  26. ^ "FIRSTS Conversation with the First Female Leader of ITU | Federal Communications Commission". www.fcc.gov. November 8, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
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