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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  July  16,  2002  Robin  Pence  at  202-  418-  0505 
 SIMON  WILKIE  NAMED  FCC  CHIEF  ECONOMIST 
 Washington,  DC  –  Professor  Simon  Wilkie,  of  the  economics  faculty  at  the  California  Institute  of  Technology,  has  been  named  Chief  Economist  of  the  FCC,  effective  July  15,  2002. 


 Wilkie  replaces  David  Sappington,  who  is  returning  to  his  position  as  the  Lanzillotti-McKethan  Eminent  Scholar  in  the  Department  of  Economics  at  the  University  of  Florida. 
 Sappington  has  served  as  the  Commission’s  Chief  Economist  since  July  1,  2001. 
 FCC  Chairman  Michael  Powell  said,  “In  today’s  complex  communications  marketplace  it  is  more  important  than  ever  that  the  Commission  have  access  to  the  best  economic  analysis 
 available.  I  am  grateful  for  the  expertise  and  important  contributions  David  Sappington  has  made  and  I  am  extremely  pleased  that  the  FCC  continues  to  attract  some  of  the  best  economists 
 in  the  nation.  Simon  Wilkie  will  be  an  invaluable  asset  to  the  FCC.” 
 Wilkie  is  an  internationally  recognized  scholar  with  extensive  experience  in  the  communications  industry.  Before  joining  Caltech,  he  was  a  member  of  the  technical  staff  and  a 
 post-  doctoral  fellow  at  Bell  Communications  Research  (BellCore).  He  also  has  served  as  an  industry  consultant  to  various  companies  in  the  U.  S.,  U.  K.  and  Australia  on  auction  strategy. 
 Wilkie  is  on  the  editorial  board  of  the  Journal  of  Public  Economic  Theory  and  has  published  widely  on  spectrum  auctions,  game  theory,  and  telecommunications  regulation. 


 Wilkie  received  his  B.  Comm.  with  honors  in  economics  at  the  University  of  South  Wales,  and  his  M.  A.  and  Ph.  D.  in  economics  at  University  of  Rochester.  He  has  been  a  member 
 of  the  California  Institute  of  Technology  faculty  since  1995  and  a  past  faculty  member  of  Columbia  University  and  the  University  of  Rochester. 


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