Janice Obuchowski

Janice Obuchowski (born 1951) is an American lawyer, business executive, and former government official who served as the assistant secretary for communications and information at the United States Department of Commerce, and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. She was the first woman to lead the NTIA in the agency's history.

Early life and education Obuchowski was born in 1951. She graduated with honors from Wellesley College in 1973 and earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. While at Georgetown, she was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. She also attended the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris.

Career

Early career Early in her career, Obuchowski worked as an investigator in the District of Columbia Criminal Justice Clinic. She later worked in private antitrust law at various law firms and companies including NYNEX (now Verizon).

In March 1989, Obuchowski was nominated by President Bush as assistant secretary for communications and information at the Department of Commerce, and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 1989. In 1991, she provided testimony to Congress on the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act. She also led Executive Branch advocacy for spectrum auction legislation as NTIA's administrator.

In February 2003, Obuchowski was appointed by President George W. Bush as U.S. ambassador to the World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva from June 9 to July 4, 2003, where she successfully spearheaded the U.S. push for international Wi-Fi adoption. In 2005, Obuchowski was a finalist with the Bush administration as a replacement chairperson to the FCC, succeeding Michael K. Powell. The role eventually went to Kevin Martin.

In 2009, she was appointed to a two-year term on the Department of Commerce's Spectrum Management Advisory Committee.

Private sector After her government service, Obuchowski founded Freedom Technologies Inc., a policy consulting firm, and served for a period as executive director of the High Tech DTV Coalition.

She has served on the boards of several organizations and companies including Spectrumx, Frontline Wireless, Inmarsat, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Stratos Global Corporation, Qualcomm, the Federal Communications Bar Association, Catholic International University, and CSG International. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the first woman to lead the ITU has stated that Obuchowski was a mentor and inspiration to her.

Works

The Opportunity of Private Sector Sharing of Government Spectrum, 2014 The Unfinished Task of Spectrum Policy Reform, 1994