FTC says Chairman Joseph Simons sworn in, which spokesman says occurred at agency headquarters by FTC Secretary Donald Clark; Noah Phillips, Rebecca Slaughter and Rohit Chopra to be sworn in later this week; and Christine Wilson takes office when Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen leaves ... DLA Piper hires Grace Koh, ex-National Economic Council (see 1802150048), to Telecom practice as partner; expertise includes media and technology policy, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence ... With Cisco selling Service Provider Video Software Solutions business to Permira, which will create rebranded company focused on pay-TV video, Abe Peled, adviser to Permira Funds, named chairman of the new company.
Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen says FTC names ex-commission official from Cadwalader Wickersham Bilal Sayyed as director, Office of Policy Planning, where Tara Koslov was acting director since June 2016; Koslov will remain at the commission and Sayyed keeps teaching at George Mason University Scalia Law School, where he has taught antitrust and competition law, an agency spokesman says ... National Regulatory Research Institute/NARUC names as NRRI director Carl Pechman, ex-Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, succeeding Rajnish Barua, hired as executive director, Delaware Public Service Commission, effective June 1, succeeding Robert Howatt, retiring.
CPB names J-Lab founder Jan Schaffer ombudsman for three-year term, effective May 1, succeeding ex-Washington Post Senior Editor Milton Coleman, term expired ... L3 Technologies appoints Melanie Heitkamp, ex-Leidos, as senior vice president-chief human resources officer, effective May 21, succeeding Kevin Weiss, retiring ... AmpThink hires Jim Banowsky, ex-Microsoft, as general counsel, with focus including expanding the HD Wi-Fi company's patent portfolio.
Returning to Viacom: Paula Kaplan, ex-AwesomenessTV, as executive vice president-talent and development, new post ... Discovery President-U.S. Ad Sales Ben Price to leave the company, effective at end of upcoming upfront selling season ... ClearCaptions names Corrine Perritano, ex-Beltone North America, chief operating officer ... Among other personnel changes in KCETLink Media Group and PBS SoCal/KOCE "merger of equals" (see 1804250057 and 1804250031), spokesman tells us KCET Chief Creative Officer Juan Devis takes that title at new entity, the name of which is to be determined.
FCC's John Evanoff promoted at Public Safety Bureau to deputy chief, Policy and Licensing Division ... In KCETLink Media Group and PBS SoCal/KOCE "merger of equals," (see 1804250057) expected to be completed in this year's first half, KCET Chairman Dick Cook named chair and PBS SoCal President-CEO Andrew Russell retains those titles for the combination ... E.W. Scripps moves up Danyelle Wright to vice president-employment and labor law and chief diversity officer, new post; she remains an employment attorney for the company.
Comcast NBCUniversal promotes Phil Tahtakran to head-NBCUniversal Federal Government Affairs and Margaret Tobey to senior vice president-regulatory affairs; Tahtakran succeeds Mitch Rose, himself recently elevated (see this section of the March 20 issue of this publication); Tobey represents NBC on the NAB board, Tahtakran represents the company through MPAA membership ... Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Executive Director-Secretary Steve King retiring, succeeded by Mark Johnson, UTC director-administrative services, who's promoted to executive director-secretary, effective May 1.
PdvWireless Vice Chairman Morgan O'Brien succeeding as CEO John Pescatore, who moves to vice chairman ... Control4 promotes JD Ellis to general counsel; ex-General Counsel Greg Bishop leaves to pursue other endeavors ... Michael Best law firm hires Anthony Biller and Emily Haas to Intellectual Property Practice group: Biller as partner and Raleigh office managing partner, Haas as senior counsel ... O'Melveny adds Supreme Court legal practitioner whose cases have involved smartphones Jeffrey Fisher as special counsel-appellate practice; he remains professor at Stanford Law School and co-director of its Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.
MPAA hires Kaelan Hollon, ex-Teva Pharmaceuticals, as vice president-communications, working on content protection and international issues, and promotes Alicia Leahy to vice president-government affairs ... ASCAP adds Nick Lehman, ex-Tegna, as executive vice president-chief strategy and digital officer ... Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden names Kate Zwaard as library’s first director-digital strategy, where she will continue overseeing programs of National Digital Initiatives division, where she used to be chief.
Charles Koch Institute adds outgoing FTC acting Chief Technologist Neil Chilson as senior research fellow-technology and innovation, effective May 1 ... Cox Enterprises adds Sharon Zealey, NextGen Compliance founder, as vice president-compliance, working on data privacy at Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group ... Discovery Inc. names Jane Latman general manager, Travel Channel; she remains executive vice president-development and research, Investigation Discovery and American Heroes Channel and general manager, Destination America ... Vision Venture Partners, private equity firm investing e-sports, entertainment and technology, hires Mike Mossholder, ex-UFC, as chief business officer.
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown confirmed by state Senate 50-0 for second five-year term, ending April 1, 2023, as a PUC commissioner; she continues also as chairman; Brown will be sworn in at PUC's Thursday meeting ... Internet Association hires Sean Perryman, ex-Democratic staff of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as director-diversity and inclusion policy and counsel.