Gloria Tristani served from 1997 to 2001 as the first Hispanic woman member of the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC). Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, she is married to Judge Gerard W. Thomson and is the mother of Vanesa and Jorge. A graduate of Barnard College

Barnard College

Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

, she obtained her Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 at the University of New Mexico School of Law

University of New Mexico School of Law

The University of New Mexico School of Law is the law school of the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. It is the only law school in the state of New Mexico. Approximately 350 students attend the school, with approximately 115 enrolled in the first-year class...

. Born on December 20, 1953, she is the granddaughter of Dennis Chavez

Dennis Chavez

Dionisio "Dennis" Chavez was a Democratic politician from the U.S. State of New Mexico who served in the United States House of Representatives, and in the United States Senate from 1935 to 1962.-Early life:...

, who served as a New Mexico's United States Senator for 32 years, from 1931 to 1962.

Background

An attorney in private practice in Albuquerque and admitted to the bar in New Mexico and Colorado, in 1994 she was elected to New Mexico's State Corporation Commission (SCC) and served as its Chair in 1996 prior to being appointed by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 to the FCC on September 15, 1997. She resigned in 2001 to run as the Democratic candidate for United States Senator from New Mexico in the 2002 elections. Defeated by Republican Sen. Pete Domenici

Pete Domenici

Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....

, she returned to private practice. She is now Of Counsel to Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP, a law firm based in Washington, D.C.

While on New Mexico's SCC, she advocated on behalf of consumers rights regarding health insurance and telecommunications, helping draft rules regulating managed care and HMOs and helping draft the New Mexico Mothers and Newly Born Children Rule. While serving on the FCC, she pushed for broadband deployment to remote areas, served as the chair of the FCC's V-Chip

V-chip

V-chip is a generic term for technology used in television set receivers in the USA, Canada, and Brazil which allows the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children's television viewing...

 Task Force, fought children's exposure to violence and indecency and supported the so-called E-rate

E-rate

E-Rate is the commonly used name for the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission .-Function:...

 for libraries and schools.

In 2000, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) awarded her the Edward R. Roybal

Edward R. Roybal

Edward Ross "Ed" Roybal was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council for thirteen years and of the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years.-Biography:...

 Award for Outstanding Public Service and was selected as Hispanic Business

Hispanic Business

Hispanic Business, Inc. is a media company based in Goleta, California, in the United States of America. The firm was founded by Jesús Chavarría in 1979 and its publications are oriented towards Hispanic professionals and entrepreneurs.-Publications:...

magazine's as one the nation's 100 most influential Hispanics for the years 1996 and 1998.

Sources

• http://www.nndb.com/people/370/000087109/
• http://www.techlawjournal.com/people/tristani.htm
• http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/previous/tristani/biography.html
• http://www.spiegelmcd.com/default.asp