Julius Genachowski was nominated by President Barack Obama as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on March 3, 2009, and sworn into office June 29, 2009. Prior to his appointment, he worked as an executive and entrepreneur. He co-founded LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, where he served as managing director. He was also a special adviser at General Atlantic. In these capacities, he worked to start, accelerate, and invest in early- and mid-stage technology and other companies. From 1997-2005, he was a senior executive at IAC/InterActiveCorp, a Fortune 500 company, where his positions included chief of business operations and general counsel.
Genachowski’s confirmation as FCC chairman returns him to the agency where, from 1994 until 1997, he served as chief counsel to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Before being chief counsel, he served as special counsel to then-FCC General Counsel (later chairman) William Kennard. Previously, he was a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice David Souter and Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for Chief Judge Abner Mikva. Genachowski also worked in Congress for then-U.S. Representative Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), and on the staff of the House select committee investigating the Iran-Contra Affair.
Genachowski was part of the founding group of New Resource Bank, which specializes in serving the needs of green entrepreneurs and sustainable businesses, and has served on the Advisory Board of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). He also served as a board member of Common Sense Media, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to improve the media lives of children and families.
Genachowski received his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was co-notes editor of the Harvard Law Review. He received an undergraduate degree from Columbia College, where he was editor of Columbia Spectator’s Broadway Magazine, and writer and researcher for Fred Friendly. He was also a certified emergency medical technician who served on the Columbia Area Volunteer Ambulance.