Blair Steven Levin is an American lawyer formerly with the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

, who served as the Executive Director of the National Broadband Plan from 2009 to 2010. During the Presidency of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

he was chief of staff to FCC chairman

Reed Hundt Reed Eric Hundt (born March 3, 1948) is an American attorney who served as chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission from November 29, 1993 to November 3, 1997. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, he served for most of C ...

from 1993 to 1997. From 2001 through 2008, he worked as a policy analyst for Legg Mason and then

Stifel Nicolaus Stifel Financial Corp. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company created under its present name in July 1983 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange on November 24, 1986. Its predecessor company wa ...

. 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.” In 2008, he co-chaired the technology, innovation and government reform transition team for President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

and subsequently served as the Executive Director for the effort that produced the National Broadband Plan. 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." 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''. He has received a number of awards for his work on broadband including “Visionary of the Year” from Computers for Youth and “Community Broadband Visionary of the Year” from the

National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors ThNational Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA)is a US-based professional membership association that provides support to members on the many local, state, and federal communications laws, administrative rulings, judicia ...

. He is now a non-resident fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Project of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

. 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. The project has led to a number of communities obtaining next generation networks. He worked on the 1982 campaign of Mayor Tom Bradley's unsuccessful run for

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

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 Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

. He graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and is a graduate of

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Blair 1954 births Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Living people Yale College alumni Yale Law School alumni