FCC Announces New Chief Economist And Winners Of 2023 Excellence In Economics, Engineering Awards

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced the appointment of Dr. Johannes M. Bauer as the agency’s chief economist. The FCC also announced the winners of the agency’s Excellence in Economic Analysis and Excellence in Engineering Awards.

The Excellence in Economic Analysis Award recognizes commission staff for outstanding economic analysis conducted in the course of their work at the FCC, while the Excellence in Engineering Award recognizes commission staff who have made outstanding engineering, scientific, or technical contributions.

On the award winners, Chairwoman Rosenworcel said at today’s Open Meeting: “To effectively serve the American people, the FCC must tackle highly complex engineering issues and perform sophisticated economic analyses.  Thank you to Lester Roberts and John Gabrysch for all you have done to help the Commission fulfill its mission and promote the public interest.”

Chief Economist – Dr. Johannes M. Bauer is both a respected academic researcher and practitioner. He is the director of the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center at Michigan State University. His research focuses on advanced communications technologies (5G, IoT, and AI) — enabling them and understanding and addressing their downsides. On the ground, he works in broadband access, deployment and digital equity. As with prior chief economists, he will work in the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics and serve a one-year term.

In announcing this appointment,  Rosenworcel said: “In his role as chief economist, Dr. Bauer will bring understanding of the latest research related to industry, foster the professional development of the FCC’s economists, and ensure economic and data analysis of the highest quality for the benefit of the consumer.”

Excellence in Economic Analysis Award – Lester Roberts of the Office of Economics and Analytics has won the 2023 Excellence in Economic Analysis award for his outstanding work to make the Emergency Alert System (EAS) more resilient. The EAS is a national public warning system in which broadcasters, cable systems, and other EAS participants deliver potentially life-saving alert messages from authorized government agencies to the public to warn of impending emergencies and dangers to life and property.

Roberts designed a program that allows the commission to better and more quickly review state EAS plans to determine if they comply with the monitoring assignment redundancy regulations to make sure that individuals are able to receive alerts in the event of outages.  His analysis will allow the commission to work more efficiently and enhances public safety.

Excellence in Engineering Award – John Gabrysch of the Media Bureau has won the 2023 Excellence in Engineering award for his outstanding work in developing innovative tools and methodologies for analyzing interference in the AM radio service. These developments have a significant impact on the commission’s decision-making process for licensing AM radio stations. His work will allow the commission to work more efficiently and will benefit the radio industry by accelerating the approval of AM filings and ensure AM stations provide the best service to their listeners.