Blair Levin

American lawyer

Blair Levin

Personal details
Born	(1954-01-23) January 23, 1954 (age 70)
Political party	Democratic
Education	Yale University (BA, JD)

Blair Steven Levin is an American lawyer formerly with the Federal Communications Commission, who served as the executive director of the National Broadband Plan from 2009 to 2010.^[1]^[2] During the presidency of Bill Clinton he was chief of staff to FCC chairman Reed Hundt from 1993 to 1997.^[3]

From 2001 through 2008, he worked as a policy analyst for Legg Mason and then Stifel Nicolaus. Barron's Magazine noted that as an analyst, Levin “has always been on top of developing trends and policy shifts in media and telecommunications … and has proved visionary in getting out in front of many of today’s headline making events.” ^[4]

In 2008, he co-chaired the technology, innovation and government reform transition team for President-elect Barack Obama and subsequently served as the executive director for the effort that produced the National Broadband Plan.^[5] FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has noted that as to Levin's role in broadband policy, “no one's done more to advance broadband expansion and competition through the vision of National Broadband Plan and Gig.U."^[6]

He has spoken at many conferences on telecommunications policy. Along with former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, Levin authored The Politics of Abundance: How Technology Can Fix the Budget, Revive the American Dream, and Establish Obama's Legacy.^[7] He has received a number of awards for his work on broadband including “Visionary of the Year” from Computers for Youth^[8] and “Community Broadband Visionary of the Year” from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.^[9]

He is now a non-resident fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Project of the Brookings Institution.^[10] He also is the executive director of the Gig.U project, a consortium of research university communities seeking to accelerate the deployment of next generation networks in the United States.^[11] The project has led to a number of communities obtaining next generation networks.^[12]

He worked on the 1982 campaign of Mayor Tom Bradley's unsuccessful run for California governor and disputes the so-called Bradley Effect. From 1984 through 1993, he was a lawyer with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College and is a graduate of Yale Law School.^[13]^[14]

References

^ Lindsey Sutphin (June 23, 2010). "Aspen Institute Communications and Society Fellow Blair Levin Gives Insight to National Broadband Plan". Broadband Breakfast. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
^ Blair Levin (2009). "Author Archive: Blair Levin". Official US Broadband plan blog. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
^ "Broadband Plan Leader Blair Levin to Join Aspen Institute". Radio World. April 20, 2010. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
^ Sandra Ward (October 30, 2006). "What to Watch in Telecom: Blair Levin, Managing Director, Stifel Nicolaus". Barron's. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ "The National Broadband Plan - Broadband.gov". www.broadband.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-03-17.
^ "Blair Levin Joins Brookings". 6 October 2014.
^ The Politics of Abundance: How Technology Can Fix the Budget, Revive the American Dream, and Establish Obama's Legacy. Odyssey Editions. November 12, 2012. ASIN B00A4OAH5U.
^ "Genachowski Presents "Visionary Of The Year" Award To Blair Levin". FCC. June 16, 2011. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ "NATOA Announces Recipients of 2012 Community Broadband Awards for Outstanding Broadband Endeavors". News release. NATOA. September 13, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ "Blair Levin". 2 December 2015.
^ John Markoff (July 27, 2011). "Colleges Join Plan for Faster Computer Networks". New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
^ http://www.cnet.com/news/race-to-gigabit-internet-service-takes-off/) Archived 2014-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Blair Levin". Biography of Communications and Society Program Fellow. Aspen Institute. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
^ "Class Secretaries List". Yale law school. Retrieved July 7, 2013.