Jonathan Zittrain, HLS professor of law and co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, has been appointed as the Federal Communications Commission’s Distinguished Scholar, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced May 31.
Zittrain, who will continue his teaching and scholarship at Harvard during the appointment, will be based in the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis and will work on a range of issues related to 21st century communications networks. He succeeds Duke University School of Law’s Professor Stuart Benjamin, who served as the FCC’s first Distinguished Scholar.
Genachowski said: “I am thrilled to welcome Professor Zittrain, one of the world’s leading strategic thinkers on communications policy in the 21st century. The Commission continues to attract some of the best talent to address the major opportunities and challenges around harnessing communications technology to benefit all Americans.”
In addition to his roles at HLS, Zittrain is a Professor of Law at the Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society and is on the board of advisors for Scientific American. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum, which has named him a Young Global Leader. Previously, he was Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University.
His research interests include issues related to digital property and content, cryptography, electronic privacy, and the roles of intermediaries within Internet architecture. His 2008 book The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It focuses on the future of the now-intertwined Internet and PC.