• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 13, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama is poised to name former Harvard Law School classmate Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, several national newspapers and industry blogs are reporting. According to the Washington Post, several unnamed sources confirmed the decision, but Obama's transition team declined to confirm it.

If appointed, Genachowski would be the 30th chairman of the FCC, and would become the nation's top media and communications industry policymaker and regulator during a time of epic transition for the industry.

Genachowski, a former senior official a the FCC, previously served as general counsel to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt during the mid-90s, and special counsel to the general counsel of FCC William Kennard, who succeeded Hundt as chairman.

Genachowski, 46, is known as a media technology guru, and has extensive private sector experience. He was chief of business operations and a member of Barry Diller's office of the chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp., and had served on the boards of Expedia, Hotels.com and Ticketmaster. He was also a co-founder of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, and has served on the board of a number of other Internet related businesses, including The Motley Fool, Website Pros, Mark Ecko Enterprises and Beliefnet. He currently serves on the board of Common Sense Media, an organization seeking to improve the media lives of children and families.

Genachowksi worked on Obama's presidential campaign, and was chairman of its Technology, Media and Telecommunications policy working group, which created the Obama Technology Innovation Plan. He currently co-leads the transition team's Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Group.

"Under Julius Genachowski's leadership, the FCC's compass would point toward the public interest," Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, said in a statement issued late Monday.

"The challenges facing the next FCC are enormous -- a vast digital divide," he continued, "an open Internet in jeopardy, consolidated media ownership, newsrooms in economic freefall and entrenched industries invested in maintaining the status quo. This moment calls for bold and immediate steps to spur competition, foster innovation and breathe new life into our communications sector. With his unique blend of business and governmental experience, Genachowski promises to provide the strong leadership we need."