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Earl Comstock Resigns As Comptel CEO
by Heather Greenfield
Earl Comstock has resigned as president and CEO of Comptel. Comstock, who joined the telecommunications industry group in June 2005, said he is leaving to pursue other interests but did not give any indication what specifically he plans to do next.
The 300-member association includes small and mid-sized telecom carriers that compete against bigger carriers. Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell was a senior vice president and assistant general counsel before being appointed to the FCC a year ago.
Comstock testified before Congress last year in support of network neutrality regulations, which would prevent high-speed Internet providers from developing relationships with preferred content providers and charging them more for faster service. He said Congress should take action to protect net neutrality and argued that the outcome of the debate will determine the country's economic future as more companies "depend on communications networks to offer content, advertise, manage inventory, and transmit voice and data between locations."
Before joining Comptel, Comstock was outside counsel to EarthLink, an Internet service provider, and argued cases before the FCC. In one case, Comstock argued that federal law required cable providers to lease broadband lines to third-party ISPs at non-discriminatory rates, but the Supreme Court ultimately said open-access rules do not apply to cable companies.
In the 1990s, Comstock handled telecom issues for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.
"Earl Comstock has worked tirelessly on behalf of Comptel and the entire competitive communications industry," said J. Sherman Henderson, the president and CEO of Lightyear Network Solutions and chairman of Comptel's board. "We greatly appreciate all his hard work and leadership over the past two years, and we wish him well in his future endeavors."
Jerry James, the former president of Grande Communications and a past Comptel chairman, will serve as interim CEO of Comptel as the trade association begins an executive search for a permanent successor. "Jerry James is a well-known and widely respected industry veteran, and we look forward to having him on board during this transitional time," Henderson said.
Well-Connected Lobbyist Launches Own Firm
Debra Berlyn, a former adviser to the FCC has started a telecom and energy policy consulting company called Consumer Policy Solutions.
Berlyn was most recently the senior legislative representative for the seniors' group AARP. She is making the transition to her own firm with some consulting work for AARP related to the transition to digital television.
Berlyn has worked on federal and state telecom and energy policy for 18 years. She was the co-founder and executive director of the Competition Policy Institute and the executive director of the National Association of State Utility Advocates.
Berlyn was appointed by the FCC chairman to serve on the agency's consumer advisory committee from 2003 to 2004 and was reappointed for 2005-2006. In 2006, she was appointed by the FCC chairman to serve on the board of the Universal Service Administrative Company, which oversees the federal fund designed to ensure telecom services to rural and underprivileged areas. She also serves on the board of the National Consumers League.
Senate Press Deputy Goes To Widmeyer Emily Roper is leaving Capitol Hill to join Widmeyer Communications as an account manager. Roper served as deputy press secretary to Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., where she developed and coordinated local, state and national media campaigns on various issues, including renewable energy, stem-cell research and rural health care initiatives.
She also directed Coleman's weekly communication calls with state and local media outlets, and coordinated efforts to produce video and audio content for media and other stakeholders. Before her work with Coleman, Roper served as the assistant director of communications for the American Tort Reform Association, which is dedicated to stopping lawsuit abuse.
"We are excited about the expertise and ideas Emily brings to the table," said Joe Clayton, president and CEO of the independent communications firm with offices in New York and Washington. "Her experience on the Hill and with trade associations makes her an especially valuable addition to our team."
In the cable industry, meanwhile, Comcast has promoted Marlene Dooner to senior vice president of investor relations. She has been with Comcast since 1995, beginning as director of investment relations and most recently serving as vice president of investor relations. D'Arcy Rudnay will become senior vice president of corporate communications.
"Marlene and D'Arcy do a phenomenal job of articulating Comcast's tremendous growth, technology and innovation to our shareholders, customers, employees and policymakers," company Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said. "Their counsel and expertise have been critical ingredients in our success. We look forward to continuing to rely on D'Arcy and Marlene as we work to effectively communicate our story."
Bush Picks Winners Of National Medal Of Science Pioneers in scientific research have received top honors from President Bush, as he announced the highest honor for science -- the 2006 National Medal of Science. The winners were nominated by their peers through the National Science Foundation.
The National Medal of Science honors individuals for pioneering scientific research in fields like the physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral and engineering sciences. The medals recognize work that enhances understanding and leads to innovations and technologies that give the United States a global economic edge.
The National Science Foundation administers the award, which was established by the Congress in 1959. The 2006 winners include:
-- Jan Achenbach, of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Achenbach is a member of the national committee for theoretical and applied mechanics. In 2005, Bush nominated him for a National Medal of Technology.
-- Ralph Alpher, is a cosmologist at The Dudley University in Austin, Texas. He was offered a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 16 but ended up taking a different path. He became a doctoral student at George Washington University, where he met Russian physicist George Gamow and became his doctoral student.
-- Gordon Bower, a psychology professor at Stanford University, is considered one of the nation's leading experimental psychologists and learning theorists. Bower's early work included investigating the effect of mood states on memory and later the impact of emotion on memory.
-- Bradley Efron, a Stanford University statistician, is best known for innovating a technique known as bootstrap re-sampling, which has impacted virtually every area of statistics.
-- Tobin Marks, a chemistry and materials science and engineering professor at Northwestern University, received a 2005 Medal of Science and is known for his work in organometallics chemistry.
-- Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State University, is globally recognized for drilling ice cores from mountain glaciers and ice caps in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. He leads the paleoclimatology research group at the Byrd Polar Research Center with his wife, Ellen Mosley-Thompson.
-- Torsten Wiesel of The Rockefeller University in New York was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work with David Hubel on visual information processing.
Quote Of The Week
"I'll be blogging all week, and more observations on the curious behavior of politicians of all stripes will be posted soon."
-- Former House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, writing at the Time magazine blog Swampland, where he is a new contributor.
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