A Duke University law professor will begin a new job next week as the first "Distinguished Scholar in Residence" at the Federal Communications Commission.
First amendment and telecommunications scholar Stuart Benjamin, the Douglas B. Maggs Chair in Law, is taking a leave of absence from his teaching position to fill the new post created by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Benjamin will work in the Office of Strategic Planning and will focus on spectrum reform, First Amendment issues and long-term strategy.
"The chairman is someone I've known for years, and he knows my work," said Benjamin, a Yale Law graduate and a former clerk to Justice David Souter. "I've been thinking for a long time about telecom from a very broad perspective, and the fact that I'm not steeped in just one issue, I think, is part of the attraction of having me at the FCC."
The scholar-in-residence post is a paid position, and Benjamin's term is indefinite.
Benjamin served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1992 until 1995, when he left to clerk for Souter. From 1996 to 1997, he was an associate of Harvard Law's Laurence Tribe. He is co-author of Telecommunications Law & Policy (2nd ed. 2006 & 1st ed. 2001).
Comments