Genachowski Names Former Microsoft Exec Managing Director of FCC

VanRoekel served as Bill Gates' assistant and strategist

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/13/2009 12:31:37 PM

New FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has named a former top Microsoft official as managing director of the FCC.

Steven VanRoekel, most recently an executive in the Windows Server and Tools division of Microsoft and a former assistant and strategist to company founder Bill Gates, will be responsible for all operations of the FCC as managing director.

Mary Beth Richards had been acting managing director under acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps before being named by Genachowski as special counsel to the chairman for FCC reform.

Named General Counsel Monday was Austin Schlick, most recently chief of the civil division of the Office of the Maryland attorney general. It will be familiar territory for Schlick. He is a former deputy general counsel and acting general counsel at the FCC.

Like Genachowksi, Schlick is also a former law clerk to a Supreme Court justice, in his case Sandra Day O'Connor.