William E. Kennard

William E. Kennard
Name	William E. Kennard
Birth date	1957
Birth place	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Attorney, diplomat, executive
Office	Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Term start	1997
Term end	2001
Predecessor	Reed Hundt
Successor	Michael Powell

William E. Kennard is an American lawyer, diplomat, and corporate executive who served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and as United States Ambassador to the European Union. He has held senior roles in private industry, nonprofit organizations, and academia, and has been active in technology policy, telecommunications law, and international trade. Kennard's career intersects with regulatory reform, corporate governance, digital inclusion, and transatlantic relations.

Early life and education

Kennard was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Lawrenceville, Georgia, attending Lawrenceville High School before matriculating at Princeton University, where he studied under faculty associated with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where contemporaries included students linked to the American Civil Liberties Union and faculty associated with the U.S. Supreme Court clerkship pipeline. After Yale, he clerked for judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and engaged with legal scholars connected to Harvard Law School and Stanford Law School.

Legal and academic career

Kennard began his legal career at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore where he worked alongside partners with ties to the New York Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He litigated matters involving agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, coordinating with attorneys who trained at Columbia Law School and Georgetown University Law Center. Kennard also joined Hughes Hubbard & Reed and later served in academic roles that connected him to centers at Columbia University, Yale University, and policy programs at The Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Federal Communications Commission chairmanship

Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Kennard succeeded Reed Hundt as Chair of the Federal Communications Commission in 1997, leading the agency through issues involving the Telecommunications Act of 1996, competition disputes with firms like Bell Atlantic, AT&T Corporation, and MCI Communications Corporation, and emerging platforms from Microsoft and Netscape Communications Corporation. During his tenure he addressed merger reviews concerning Time Warner, Comcast, and Fox Broadcasting Company, and he worked with commissioners linked to the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. Kennard championed policies on broadband deployment collaborating with stakeholders from Verizon Communications, Sprint Corporation, and BellSouth, while engaging with civil society groups including the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. His FCC directed enforcement actions involving Clear Channel Communications and cooperated with international regulators in Brussels, London, and Tokyo through fora associated with the International Telecommunication Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Private sector leadership and corporate roles

After the FCC, Kennard served as Vice President and General Counsel at AT&T Corporation during the era of its merger activity with SBC Communications and later was an executive at International Business Machines Corporation and Google. He became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MediaOne-related entities and later joined the board of directors of corporations such as Verizon Communications, The Carlyle Group, Uber Technologies, and The Walt Disney Company affiliates, interacting with governance practices from New York Stock Exchange listings and Securities and Exchange Commission reporting. Kennard has been involved in venture capital and private equity circles with firms like Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners and has advised startup founders associated with Silicon Valley incubators and accelerators like Y Combinator and Techstars.

Public service and nonprofit involvement

Kennard served as United States Ambassador to the European Union under President Barack Obama, engaging with institutions such as the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament. He has held leadership roles with nonprofits including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Aspen Institute, and has participated in initiatives with the Clinton Global Initiative, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Kennard has supported digital equity projects working with the Open Technology Institute, the Benton Foundation, and community partners like TechSoup and local chapters of the Urban League. He has lectured at institutions including Georgetown University, Princeton University, and Yale Law School and collaborated with international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on connectivity and rights issues.

Awards, honors, and recognition

Kennard's honors include recognition from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, awards from the National Bar Association, and fellowships from organizations linked to Harvard Kennedy School, the Truman Center for National Policy, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received honorary degrees from universities such as Howard University, Morehouse College, and Georgetown University and has been profiled by media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Fortune Magazine. Kennard has been listed in compilations by Time Magazine, honored by civic groups such as the National Urban League, and invited to speak at events hosted by CES, SXSW, and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Category:American lawyers Category:United States Ambassadors to the European Union Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Federal Communications Commission chairmen