The Advisory Board for the Program on International Communications Regulation and Policy consists of eminent Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology experts with very diverse backgrounds. The advisory board meets annually to provide strategic guidance for the Program courses. The Board’s members are also potential guest speakers and provide valuable insight and networking opportunities for the WCL students enrolled in the Program courses.
Patrick Masambu
Director General
ITSO
Mr. Patrick Masambu was elected as the Director General of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) at the organization’s Assembly of Parties meeting held in Washington, D.C in October 2016.
Up to the time of assuming his new appointment that took effect on 18th July, 2017 Mr. Masambu served as the Deputy Director General and Director of Technical Affairs at ITSO Headquarters in Washington, D.C for a period of 7 years. In this role, he made significant contributions to top level decision making in ITSO as well as related key satellite industry initiatives.
In the period prior to the year 2010, Mr. Masambu held several top-level management positions in Uganda’s telecommunications sector, where as the founding Chief Executive of the country's communications regulatory agency, the Uganda Communications Commission, he had the opportunity to spearhead the country’s telecommunications and ICT reforms, operations and regulation.
In parallel with these duties, Mr. Masambu has, throughout much of his career, actively led and participated in the design, development and implementation of various works and initiatives at regional and international level institutions such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO), African Telecommunications Union (ATU), World Bank and a number of Academic Institutions.
Mr Masambu holds MBA and B.Sc(Engineering)(Hons) degrees; a Postgraduate Diploma in Telecommunications Systems Management and several certificates in specialized disciplines in telecommunications; regulation and ICT.
Captain Moin Ahmed
Director General
International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO)
Captain Moin Ahmed is a Bangladeshi national, currently serving as the Director General of the International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO). He holds a Certificate of Competency as Master Mariner and MSc in Shipping Management (Technical) and was educated on maritime satellite navigation and communication systems. In his maritime professional career of more than 40 years, he spent 10 years at sea and 30 years in shore establishments with senior appointments in technical, operational, commercial, training of maritime personnel, maritime safety administration and in the UN system as a senior international civil servant. In the UN system, he served at the highest professional category at the IMO Secretariat on Technical Cooperation, Maritime Safety and Member State Audit. Prior to joining the IMO Secretariat, he represented Bangladesh to IMO and several other international meetings and has contributed to the promotion of maritime safety and protection of the marine environment. He brings with him a wealth of global experience and is known as an organizational leader in setting standards of excellence. He demonstrated his leadership role as the Chairman of the IMO Technical Co-operation Committee, IMSO Assembly, several international expert groups, President of the World Maritime University (WMU) Student Council and also as a Governor of World Maritime University Board. He had been a visiting faculty member of the IMO International Maritime Academy and currently at WMU.
Padideh Ala’i
Faculty Director, International Legal Studies Program
AUWCL
Padideh Ala’i is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL). She specializes in international economic law, law of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and comparative legal traditions. She teaches international trade law and comparative law. Professor Alai’s scholarship has concentrated on the history of free trade, transparency obligations of the WTO and their implications on internal domestic transparency, universalizing the administrative state through the multilateral trading system, as well as good governance and evolution of international anti-corruption norms.
In August 2017, Professor Ala’i was appointed Director of International and Comparative Legal Studies and Faculty Director of the International Legal Studies Program (ILSP). In her new role, she promotes, represents, and coordinates the law school’s renowned international programs that have been consistently ranked among some of the most prestigious programs in the United States. Professor Ala’i is also the Director of the Humbert Humphrey Fellowship Program at WCL, a Fulbright program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Program brings accomplished mid-career professionals from developing countries to the U.S for 10 months of non-degree study and professional development in the general field of law and human rights. In addition, since 2014, she has led the interdisciplinary Trade, Investment and Development Program (TID) that provides resources to students interested in linkage between trade and other disciplines such as intellectual property, environment, investment, labor and human rights.
Professor Ala’i received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988.
José Albuquerque
Division Chief, International Bureau-Satellite Division
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Jose Albuquerque has Engineering and MSc degrees from Catholic University (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was with Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, for more than 20 years, as a professor, as director of its Center for Studies in Telecommunications and as Vice President, Academic Affairs.
For over 20 years he worked for different satellite operators: Intelsat, Teledesic, PanAmSat and again Intelsat.
He has been with the FCC, as Chief of the Satellite Division, since August 2013.
Fiona Alexander
Associate Administrator, Office of International Affairs
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
Ms. Fiona Alexander is the Associate Administrator (Head of Office) for the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Office of International Affairs (OIA). As the Executive Branch agency responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policy issues, NTIA is committed to the continued growth of the Internet. In her role as Associate Administrator for International Affairs, Ms. Alexander oversees and manages NTIA's activities related to the Internet's domain name system (DNS) as well as NTIA's involvement in international ICT bilateral and multilateral discussions in venues such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications Working Group (APEC TEL), the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO), and, the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO). She is also a key member of the Department's Internet Policy Task Force providing strategic guidance with respect to online privacy, copyright protection, and cybersecurity, and co-leading the work on the global free flow of information. Ms. Alexander was NTIA's lead negotiator for issues related to Internet Governance in the context of the UN World Summit on the Information Society as well as the Affirmation of Commitments with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In addition, Ms. Alexander was a key member of the U.S. team that worked on the OECD's Internet Policy Making Principles. Prior joining NTIA, Ms. Alexander was a Senior Consultant at Booz, Allen & Hamilton. She has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from American University, Washington, D.C.
Flavia Alves, AUWCL Alumna
Global Policy Manager-International Institutions Lead
Facebook
An attorney with fifteen years of experience, ten of which is on international ICT policy, Ms. Alves leads Facebook’s relations with international institutions dealing with a variety of Internet-related policy matters. She actively participates in the work of international institutions on Internet-related policies or recommendations addressing topics such as Internet governance, connectivity, content, data privacy, free flow of data across borders, security, e-commerce among others. Before joining Facebook, Ms. Alves was a Senior Advisor for International ICT Policy at Telecommunications Management Group (TMG), where she advised clients operating worldwide on a variety of ICT policy matters, particularly on their international fora strategy. Prior to joining TMG, she worked at the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) in Washington, D.C., at the Federal Supreme Court in São Paulo, as well as in other recognized law firms in Brazil. Ms. Alves obtained her International Masters of Law (LL.M) degree from American University, and a Law Degree from Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in São Paulo. She is fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
Donna Bethea-Murphy
Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory
Inmarsat
Donna Bethea?Murphy is Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory for Inmarsat. In this capacity she leads the company’s domestic and international regulatory activities. Previous to Inmarsat, she was Vice President of Regulatory Engineering for Iridium where she led all of the company's global technical regulatory activities, including those related to policy, standards, licensing, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and spectrum. In addition, she serves on several Boards including the ITU’ Smart Sustainable Development Board.
As a leader and advocate within the satellite community, Ms. Murphy has consistently highlighted the importance of satellite services during emergencies and times of disaster. In particular, she has promoted in-country preparedness and disaster planning within the United States and at the United Nations. In part due to these efforts and Iridium’s work in disaster preparedness, the ITU selected Iridium as the recipient of its 2012 ITU Humanitarian award for which Donna accepted the award. Donna has taken on a leadership role within the industry in other areas and currently serves on the FCC’s communications Security Reliability and Interoperability Council and on the boards of the Satellite Industry Association and the Mobile Satellite Users Association.
While working on behalf of satellite companies, both for Iridium and previously for PanAmSat, Ms. Murphy has worked to establish regulatory policies to facilitate the successful roll-out of satellite-based Internet, broadband, Direct-to-Home broadcasting, aeronautical, maritime and telephony services. Prior to joining PanAmSat, Ms. Murphy worked for a leading mobile terrestrial operator and advocated company regulatory policy positions before United States government agencies on issues such as Caller-ID, E-911, radio frequency radiation hazards and Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement.
Ms. Murphy began her career working for the Unite States Federal Communications Commission where she negotiated bilateral coordination agreements between US-based satellite operators and foreign administrations and represented the US government before international intergovernmental bodies. Ms. Bethea-Murphy holds a Bachelor’s of Science in electrical engineering from Clemson University.
Michael W. Carroll
Professor of Law
Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
AUWCL
Michael W. Carroll is Professor of Law and the Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (2009-present). He teaches and writes about intellectual property law and cyberlaw. Professor Carroll's research focuses on the search for balance in intellectual property law over time in the face of challenges posed by new technologies. His research includes projects about the social costs imposed by one-size-fits-all intellectual property rights and about the history of copyright in music. Professor Carroll also is recognized as a leading advocate for open access over the Internet to the research that appears in scholarly and scientific journals. He has written white papers and has given numerous presentations to university faculty, administrators, and staff around the country on this issue. In addition, he speaks about and promotes publication of open educational resources and open scientific data.
Professor Carroll is a founding member of Creative Commons, Inc. (2001–present). He also serves on the Board of the Public Library of Science (2012-present) and recently completed service on the National Research Council’s Board on Research Data and Information (2008-2013). He is a member of the Editorial Board of I/S Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society (2006–Present). In addition, he is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology (2009- Present) and a member of the Advisory Board of Public Knowledge (2009-Present).
Prior to joining the WCL faculty, Professor Carroll taught at the Villanova University School of Law (2001-09), and he served as a law clerk to Judge Judith W. Rogers, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Joyce Hens Green, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He practiced law at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (1996-97; 2000-01) (now WilmerHale) in Washington, D.C. Prior to entering law school, Professor Carroll was a journalist in Chicago, a high school teacher in Zimbabwe, and a project assistant at the Africa-America Institute, where he worked on providing election monitoring and election assistance in Africa. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Chicago.
Gonzalo de Dios
Associate General Counsel
Intelsat
Gonzalo de Dios is an Associate General Counsel at Intelsat, the largest provider of satellite services worldwide. Mr. de Dios is responsible for regulatory matters affecting the company’s satellite operations, including foreign authorizations and permits, international regulatory activities affecting the company’s spectrum holdings, international government relations, as well as legal support for operational, corporate, contractual, business development, strategic acquisitions and other matters.
Mr. de Dios has extensive experience and knowledge in the telecommunications arena and has worked in-house with multinational corporations as well as with law firms advising customers on both domestic as well as international telecommunications and regulatory matters.
Mr. de Dios is a frequent speaker on international telecommunications regulatory topics and serves as a Board member of the United States Telecommunications Training Institute ("USTTI"), a non-profit organization that brings together industry and government to provide intensive tuition-free ICT training to participants from developing countries.
Mr. de Dios is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and has completed other legal and business academic course work at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, the Boston University School of Management and Harvard University Law School.
Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski
Executive Secretary
Eutelsat IGO
The Executive Secretary is appointed by and is responsible to the EUTELSAT IGO Assembly of Parties. Mr. Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski is the Executive Secretary and the legal representative of EUTELSAT IGO.
At its 40th meeting in March 2017, the Assembly of Parties of EUTELSAT elected Mr. Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski of Poland for a four-year term beginning on 2 July 2017. He is a senior executive with 35 years of professional experience in media, telecom, satellite and cable. He also served as Director General of Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Prior to his appointment he was an Expert Adviser to the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs and Chairman of EUTELSAT IGO Advisory Committee. He also represented Poland in ITSO, ESA, EBU and various committees of the European Union. Mr. Dmochowski-Lipski holds a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, as well as an MBA with honors in Finance from Boston University.
Dean Claudio M. Grossman
Professor of Law
Dean Emeritus
AUWCL
Claudio Grossman, Dean of American University Washington College of Law and the Raymond I. Geraldson Scholar for International and Humanitarian Law, is an expert on international law, human rights, and Inter-American affairs. Grossman was unanimously re-elected in May 2012 to a third term as chair of the United Nations Committee against Torture, a position which he has held since April 2008, and has been a Committee member following his November 2003 election to that body. He was previously a member of the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files. Grossman served as president of the College of the Americas, an organization of colleges and universities in the Western Hemisphere, from November 2003-November 2007. Previously, he was a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from 1993-2001, where he served in numerous capacities including twice as its President (1996 and 2001) as well as the special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous populations and the special rapporteur on women's rights. He has participated in numerous on-site visits and election-observing missions in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. He has also worked on international legal issues with the United Nations and the International Human Rights Law Group (now known as Global Rights). Grossman is fluent in Spanish, French, and Dutch. He is the author of numerous books and articles on international law, human rights, and the law of international organizations, and the recipient of numerous awards for his work in those fields.
Fernando Laguarda
Director, Program on Law and Government
AUWCL
Fernando Laguarda is Professorial Lecturer and Director of the Program on Law & Government at the American University Washington College of Law. Previously, he served as Vice President, External Affairs and Policy Counselor for Time Warner Cable, where he helped the company develop and advance its policy positions, focusing on consumer protection, competition issues, intellectual property and telecommunications regulation. He also oversaw the company’s relationships with non-governmental policy stakeholders such as civil rights and human rights organizations, think tanks, foundations, academic institutions and public interest groups. In 2010, Fernando founded and served as inaugural Director of the Time Warner Cable Research Program on Digital Communications, the first program of its kind seeking to expand relevant scholarship in the cable and telecommunications industries.
Prior to Time Warner Cable, Fernando was a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP and at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC. In private practice, he advised and represented a wide range of communications, entertainment industry, health care and technology clients in proceedings before trial and appellate courts and regulatory agencies. He previously worked as a Budget Analyst in the Office of Administration and Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and prior to that as a bilingual social worker.
Fernando is currently Chair of TPRC, the research conference on Internet, Telecommunications and Technology. He previously served as General Counsel and then as Board Chair of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, an appointed member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee, and as a member of numerous non-profit boards, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Corporate Alliance, the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, and the Harvard Alumni Association.
Sofie Maddens
Head of the Regulatory and Market Environment Division
ITU BDT
Ms. Maddens has worked for over 20 years in the Information and Communications Sector in international and multi-cultural environments including in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
For over 20 years, Ms. Maddens has managed complex private sector, government, regional and international projects and grants. While balancing budgetary, legal, institutional, training considerations as well as geo-political needs and issues, Ms. Maddens has defined and drafted legal and regulatory frameworks and developed and implemented advocacy initiatives as well as corporate and government strategy recommendations. Ms. Maddens has advised both public and private sector clients and specializes in regulatory and policy assistance, capacity building and training, strategic advice and implementation, as well as project management and completion for ICT legal, regulatory and policy projects.
Ms. Maddens has managed and defined ICT projects in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East, focusing in particular on the information and communications sectors, the postal sector as well as on regulation and policy concerning the Internet, e-commerce, privacy, cybercrime and cyber security.
Kathryn Martin
Director
Access Partnership
Kathryn obtains spectrum and service rights in foreign markets for a variety of military and commercial clients. She has broad experience negotiating with commercial and government entities to secure operating licenses, numbering rights and interconnection agreements. An engineer by training, she represents clients’ technical interests at international fora such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Organization of American States (OAS) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Kathryn joined Access Partnership in 2000 from the private sector, where she secured frequency access for a global network. Kathryn also served five years at the US Department of State, where she led delegations of government and industry representatives to spectrum and standards-setting bodies at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
Maury Mechanick
Adjunct Professor, AUWCL
External Legal Counsel, ITSO
Maury Mechanick has over 35 years of experience in the field of international telecommunications. From 2002 through 2017, he held the position of Counsel in the Washington, DC office of White & Case LLP. His practice focused on representing public and private sector clients in the satellite and telecommunications fields in transactional and regulatory matters in the United States and abroad. He has also served as the external legal advisor to ITSO since 2002.
Prior to joining White & Case, Mr. Mechanick was a senior executive for nearly twenty years with COMSAT Corporation and later Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, where he led U.S. efforts resulting in the privatization of the INTELSAT and Inmarsat intergovernmental satellite organizations and the creation of New Skies Satellites, NV, as an INTELSAT spin-off company.
Mr. Mechanick served as the U.S. Governor to INTELSAT from 1995 to 2001 and as Chairman of the INTELSAT Board of Governors during the pivotal year leading up to that organization’s privatization. Mr. Mechanick is a long-standing board member of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, and previously served as the President and Chairman of that organization and is a member of the prestigious International Institute of Space Law. Mr. Mechanick has also served as the external pro bono legal advisor to the Washington Space Business Roundtable.
Mr. Mechanick received a BSFS degree (Foreign Service) from Georgetown University in 1973 and a JD degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Samia Melhem
Lead Policy Officer, Global ICT Group, Transport & ICT
The World Bank Group
Samia Melhem is a Lead Policy Officer in the World Bank's Transport and ICT Global Practice. She chairs the Digital Development Community of Practice and leads Global ICT's Transformation practice, as well as its Knowledge, Learning and Solutions functions.
Her current operational responsibilities include lending and technical assistance for the ICT sector. In her 20 years of experience in development at the World Bank Group, Samia has worked on ICT4D in several sectors: telecommunications and broadband policy, ICT for public sector transformation, improving health and education services, and innovation and private sector development. Samia held several positions as regional coordinator in different regions such as Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Senior Operations Officer at InfoDev, and Strategy and Policy Officer in ECA, Africa and IMT.
She has worked in more than 40 countries, and has authored several research notes, working papers, case studies and policy notes. She holds degrees in Electrical Engineering (BS), Computer Sciences (MS) and Finance (MBA).