FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced four members of the senior leadership of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) on July 16. Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman, Senior Deputy Chief James Schlichting, Deputy Chief Renee Roland Crittendon and Deputy Chief John S. Leibovitz will join the other senior staff in WTB. The WTB handles all FCC domestic wireless telecommunications programs and policies, except those involving public safety, satellite communications or broadcasting, including licensing, enforcement, and regulatory functions. Wireless communications services include cellular telephone, paging, personal communications services, and other commercial and private radio services, including Amateur Radio.

"This bureau will play a pivotal role in promoting innovation, competition, job creation and investment in the wireless sector," said Chairman Genachowski. "I am delighted to have a Wireless Telecommunications Bureau team with the expertise to help seize the opportunity for the United States to lead the world in mobile communications."

Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

Ruth Milkman is currently Special Counsel, leading the transition effort in the Chairman's office. From 1986-1998, she served at the Commission in a variety of positions, including Deputy Chief of the International and Common Carrier Bureaus and Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Reed Hundt where she was responsible for wireless issues and spectrum policy. Milkman also was a partner at Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney in Washington, D.C. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Senior Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

James Schlichting has been at the FCC for nearly 24 years, most recently as Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of WTB, and previously as Deputy Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), Deputy Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau, Chief of the Pricing Policy Division in the Common Carrier Bureau and Chief of the Policy and Program Planning Division of the Common Carrier Bureau. Prior to joining the FCC, Schlichting practiced communications law at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Luther M. Swygert and Philip W. Tone of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

Renee Roland Crittendon has been at the FCC for eight years where she most recently served as Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor in the Office of Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein. In this position, she was responsible for spectrum, broadband, international and public safety issues. Before joining the Commissioner's office in 2007, Crittendon served as Deputy Bureau Chief in the Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to that, she was Chief of the Wireline Bureau's Competition Policy Division. Crittendon also served as Associate Division Chief of the Mobility Division of the WTB. Before joining the Commission, Crittendon served as Deputy Chief Counsel - Telecommunications for Prism Communication Services, Inc, and was in private practice with a Washington, DC law firm specializing in media, wireline and satellite issues.

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

John S. Leibovitz was a staff member on the Presidential Transition Team where he helped to coordinate the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform working group. Prior to the transition, Leibovitz worked as an entrepreneur and strategy consultant in the telecommunications industry, with an emphasis on the wireless sector. He started his business career with McKinsey & Company, in New York. He has written about technology and communications policy in the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of Law and Technology. -- FCC