Reed Hundt
Encyclopedia
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...
from 1993 to 1997. 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...
, he served for most of Clinton's first term. He was succeeded by William Kennard
William Kennard
William E. Kennard is the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. He was nominated by Barack Obama in August 2009 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in November 2009. He was also chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission from 1997 to 2001, appointed by Bill Clinton in November...
.
Biography
Hundt attended high school in Washington D.C at the prestigious St. Albans School. Upon graduation he earned a B.A. with Exceptional Distinction in History from Yale CollegeYale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
(1969) (where he served as executive editor of the Yale Daily News
Yale Daily News
The Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
) and a law degree from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
(1974) where he was a member of the executive board of the Yale Law Journal
Yale Law Journal
The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
. From 1975 to 1993 he practiced law at Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins LLP is a global law firm, one of the largest in the world. Latham currently employs approximately 2,000 attorneys in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm was started in Los Angeles in 1934 and has extensive Californian roots, but its largest office is now...
.
At the FCC, Hundt oversaw the introduction of spectrum auctions and the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
that reduced substantially the rates for international telecommunications service. Hundt has claimed that, while a Commissioner, he was critical at the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
that relaxed rules preventing the consolidation of radio station ownership in the hands of a few companies.
After leaving the FCC, Hundt has worked as an advisor to McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions...
and to the Blackstone Group
Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
. He has also joined the board of several technology companies, including Intel Corp., where he took the seat of legendary icon Gordon Moore
Gordon Moore
Gordon Earle Moore is the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation and the author of Moore's Law .-Life and career:...
upon Moore's retirement. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the United Negro College Fund, an educational assistance organization, Serious Materials and Connecticut's Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority. In addition, Hundt is on the advisory boards of the Yale School of Management
Yale School of Management
The Yale School of Management is the graduate business school of Yale University and is located on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The School offers Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. degree programs. As of January 2011, 454 students were enrolled in its MBA...
and the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Hundt is Chairman of the Aspen Institute IDEA Project, a forum of technology and communications firms, governmental officials, and non-governmental organizations addressing solutions to problems of the international ICT sector. Hundt is a Member of the Audit Committee for the Alliance for Climate Change and is a consultant to Skadden, Arps. Hundt serves as an adviser to Peek, LLC a consumer electronics firm and E-Access. Hundt has been Principal at Charles Ross Partners, a consulting firm, since 1997 and is Principal of REH Advisors, an advisory firm serving private firms. He serves as a member of the District of Columbia bar.
Hundt was an advisor to Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on technology and communications issues during the Obama Presidential campaign, and he served on the Obama transition team. Hundt is currently the CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital
Coalition for Green Capital
The Coalition for Green Capital is a non-governmental organization founded by CEO Reed Hundt. The CGC works to advocate tax and finance policies that support long-term investment in energy efficiency and clean energy...
, a non-profit advocacy coalition of businesses, investors and attorneys.
Publications
He has written "You Say You Want A Revolution: A Story of Information Age Politics" (Yale:2000) and "In China's Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship" (Yale: 2006) as part of the Future of American Democracy FoundationFuture of American Democracy Foundation
The Future of American Democracy Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy foundation dedicated to research and education, working in partnership with the Yale University Press to clarify and analyze contemporary domestic and foreign policy. Board members include distinguished scholars...
's Future of American Democracy Series.
Recent articles include:
- “Grid to the Twenty- First Century: Will a more networked society be a less free society?” Democracy Journal, Spring, 2008.
- “Patently Obvious” Forbes, January 30, 2006.
- “Communications Policy for 2005 and Beyond,” Hundt, R. and Rosston, G., 2005 Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No. 04-07, August 2002 in Federal Communications Law Journal, Vol. 58 No. 1, December 2005.