Tim Wu

Tim Wu
Name	Tim Wu
Birth date	1972
Birth place	Washington, D.C.
Education	McGill University (BA), Harvard Law School (JD)
Occupation	Professor, legal scholar, author, policy advocate
Known for	Net neutrality, The Master Switch, The Attention Merchants
Spouse	Kate Judge

Tim Wu. He is an American legal scholar, professor, and author known for his advocacy of net neutrality, a term he is credited with coining. A professor at Columbia Law School, his work focuses on telecommunications law, antitrust, and the control of information. Wu has served in prominent public policy roles, including as a senior advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and on the National Economic Council under President Joe Biden.

Early life and education

Born in Washington, D.C., he spent his early childhood in Switzerland before his family settled in Toronto. He completed his undergraduate studies at McGill University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated with a Juris Doctor. His early legal career included clerking for Judge Richard A. Posner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and later for Justice Stephen Breyer at the Supreme Court of the United States.

Academic career

Wu began his academic career as a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. He later joined the faculty of Columbia Law School, where he is the Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology. His scholarship has been influential in the fields of antitrust law and communications policy, particularly through his analysis of information monopolies. He has also been a fellow at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and has taught at Stanford Law School and the University of Chicago Law School.

Policy and advocacy work

He is most widely recognized for coining and popularizing the term "net neutrality," the principle that internet service providers should treat all data equally. He advocated for this policy in publications and before government bodies like the Federal Communications Commission. Wu served as a senior advisor to the Federal Trade Commission and was a member of the New York State Office of the Attorney General under Eric Schneiderman. His policy work also includes serving on the board of directors for Free Press, a media reform advocacy group.

Political career

Wu entered electoral politics in 2014, running as the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York on a ticket with gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout; they were defeated in the primary by Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul. In 2021, he was appointed by President Joe Biden as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, serving jointly on the National Economic Council and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, he focused on issues of antitrust enforcement and Big Tech regulation.

Publications and awards

He is the author of several acclaimed books, including The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, which won the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads. His other notable works include The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. His writing has appeared in major publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. In 2013, he was named one of Harvard University's 100 most influential graduates by Harvard Magazine.

Personal life

He is married to Kate Judge, a professor at Columbia Law School. They have two children and reside in New York City. An avid runner, he has completed the New York City Marathon. His father, Alan Wu, was a research scientist, and his mother, Gillian Wu, is an immunologist and professor at the University of Toronto.

Category:American legal scholars Category:Columbia Law School faculty Category:Net neutrality activists