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Former FCC Commissioner Kathleen Quinn Abernathy was appointed to the Board of Directors of Citizens Communications Company in April 2006. Ms. Abernathy is a partner in the communications and information technology practice in the Washington D.C. office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She advises clients on a wide variety of policy and regulatory issues related to the telecommunications and media fields and represents clients at both the federal and state levels as well as before various international and foreign regulatory agencies.
Immediately prior to joining Akin Gump Ms. Abernathy served as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate to a four-year term in 2001 she was responsible for representing the public interest in each of the policy areas under the FCC's jurisdiction including wireless; domestic and international telecommunications; satellite; broadcast; cable; communications equipment manufacturers; and broadband IP and other advanced communications technologies. She was intimately involved in developing and implementing domestic policy in each of these fields.
In addition Ms. Abernathy chaired the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and participated in numerous international bilateral and multilateral negotiations including the 2002 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference and the 2003 ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference. She was appointed by the ITU to chair the 2004 ITU Global Symposium for Regulators.
Before joining the FCC as a commissioner Abernathy served as Vice President Public Policy at BroadBand Office Communications as Vice President Regulatory Affairs at US West and as Vice President Federal Regulatory at AirTouch Communications (a predecessor company to Verizon Wireless). Earlier in her career she served as a legal advisor to two FCC commissioners and as a Special Assistant to the agency's General Counsel.
Ms. Abernathy has been honored by several organizations for her professional achievements. She received the Forerunner Accolade in 2002 from Women in Cable and Telecommunications for her commitment to encouraging developing and promoting women in the industry and the Milestone Award in 2001 from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law for her exemplary service to the law school and outstanding achievement in the field of communications law. In addition she was named one of the most powerful women in television by Electronic Media magazine.
Ms. Abernathy received her B.A. magna cum laude from Catholic University and her J.D. from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law. | 