Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski today tapped his top legal advisor, Rick Kaplan, to serve as the head of the agency's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, replacing Ruth Milkman.
Milkman has been named special counsel to the chairman for innovation in government, responsible for leading a team to "develop proposals for procedural, regulatory and statutory changes to further innovation,” according to the FCC. She’s carrying on the work of Mary Beth Richards, who moved to the Federal Trade Commission to serve as deputy executive director.
As Wireless Bureau chief, Kaplan will oversee nearly all of the FCC domestic wireless telecommunications programs, policies, and outreach initiatives.
He currently serves as Genachowski’s chief counsel and senior legal advisor, and was previously chief of staff for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Before joining the FCC, Kaplan was a regulatory and appellate lawyer at Sidley Austin, and served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Milkman, a founding partner of telecom boutique Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney (now Lawler, Metzger, Keeney & Logan), has served as chief of the Wireless Bureau since August 2009. She had a prior stint at the FCC as well, with jobs including deputy chief of both the International and the Common Carrier bureaus and senior legal advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt.
“It is an exciting and critical time for wireless communications, and I am pleased that Rick accepted this leadership position to continue Ruth Milkman’s excellent work in one of the most important sectors of our economy,” Genachowski said in a news release.
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