Julius Genachowski - Biography

Julius Genachowski (born August 19, 1962) is an American lawyer and businessman. He became Federal Communications Commission Chairman on June 29, 2009.

Education

Genachowski grew up in Great Neck, New York. He attended yeshiva and studied in Israel. He entered Columbia College of Columbia University as a pre-med student, but earned a Bachelor of Arts in History (1985) magna cum laude. He was an Editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator. After working in Washington, D.C. for then New York Congressman Chuck Schumer, he entered Harvard Law School and earned a Juris Doctor (1991), also magna cum laude. He was a Notes Editor at the Harvard Law Review when his classmate Barack Obama was its president. Genachowski clerked for The Honorable Abner J. Mikva on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Justices William J. Brennan and David Souter at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Government and business experience

Genachowski was on the staffs of the Select Committee investigating the Iran-Contra Affair and then U.S. Representative Chuck Schumer. In 1994 FCC Chairman Reed Hundt hired him as a senior legal advisor; he was chief counsel 1996-1997.

He was Chief of Business Operations and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairperson at IAC/InterActiveCorp and executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. He earned at least $USD2.5 million when Vivendi acquired Universal assets in 2003. He had previously served on the Boards of Directors of Expedia, Hotels.com, and Ticketmaster.

Genachowski is a co-founder of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures; a Special Advisor at General Atlantic; and a member of the Boards of Directors at The Motley Fool, Web.com, Mark Ecko Enterprises, and Beliefnet. In April 2006, he was appointed to the Board of JackBe.

He serves on the Board of Common Sense Media, a leading organization seeking to improve the media lives of children and families and the Advisory Board of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). He also recently helped found the New Resource Bank, the country’s first commercial green bank.

Obama campaign and transition

For Senator Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign, Genachowski was Chairperson of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Policy Working Group, which created the Obama Technology and Innovation Plan. He also advised and guided the Campaign’s innovative use of technology and the Internet for grassroots engagement and participation.

After the November election, he co-led the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Group for President-Elect Obama's Transition Team. On January 12, 2009, several news outlets reported that Genachowski would be President-Elect Obama's choice to head the FCC. This was confirmed by a press release on March 3, 2009.

Accomplishments as FCC Chairman

Initially, Chairman Genachowski promised to rein in companies restricting what people can do on their Internet lines, setting a new tone for the agency. However criticisms have become numerous and increasingly vocal among consumer groups and legislative supporters about his lack of substantive accomplishments to date. In particular, his lack of clear commitment to regulating carriers under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act, as he had proposed, has engendered a great deal of controversy and concern among supporters of Net Neutrality. Correspondingly, those carriers opposed to increased regulation have attempted to suggest regulatory solutions, a process he has been criticized for encouraging.

Genachowski's departure from the FCC seemed a possibility in early 2011, possibly to some other federal post.

Personal

His parents are Eastern European Jews who survived the Holocaust. His father's cousin, Menachem Genack, is an Orthodox rabbi and the CEO of the Orthodox Union Kosher Division. He is married to Rachel Goslins.