Chairman Genachowski Names New FCC Officials

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced two key appointments: Steven VanRoekel as Managing Director, and Austin Schlick as the agency's General Counsel.

VanRoekel has over 18 years of Information Technology and management experience and was most recently a top executive in the Windows Server and Tools division at Microsoft Corporation. Mr. VanRoekel held various positions in his 15 years at Microsoft, including managing Microsoft's cross-industry Web Services team and serving as Speech and Strategy Assistant to Bill Gates. Mr. VanRoekel also assisted Mr. Gates in his transition from CEO of Microsoft to Chief Software Architect and advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on its shift in giving philosophy from a focus on technology to a focus on world health. While at Microsoft, Mr. VanRoekel was awarded numerous honors for management and marketing excellence, including Microsoft's Redmond Manager of the Year, and consumer marketing awards, including "Best in Show" at the Consumer Electronics Show for the use of innovative marketing and new media.

Schlick has served most recently as Chief of the Civil Division of the Office of the Maryland Attorney General, responsible for the state's civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels. In addition to overseeing the defense of the State of Maryland and its officers and employees, Mr. Schlick has led affirmative litigation in the fields of environmental and consumer protection. Mr. Schlick previously served at the FCC as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and as Acting General Counsel. Prior to that, he was an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he argued seven cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Schlick also was a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, specializing in telecommunications law and litigation. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Chief Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.