Meredith Attwell Baker was nominated by President Barack Obama as a member of the Federal Communications Commission on June 25, 2009, sworn in on July 31, 2009, and served until June 3, 2011.
Ms. Baker most recently served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA is the President's principal advisor on telecommunications and information policy. Ms. Baker was named Deputy Assistant Secretary in February 2007 and first joined NTIA as a Senior Advisor in January 2004. She also served as Acting Associate Administrator for the Office of International Affairs and on detail to the White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy.
At NTIA, Ms. Baker advised and represented the Executive Branch on both domestic and international telecommunications and information policy activities. With a core mission to promote market-based policies that encourage innovation and benefit consumers, NTIA under Ms. Baker pursued the effective and efficient utilization of radiofrequency spectrum by the federal government through its management of federal spectrum use, performed cutting edge telecommunications research and engineering, and oversaw the management of the Internet's domain name and numbering system. Ms. Baker also administered the coupon program to help facilitate the nation's historic transition to digital television. Ms. Baker has served on delegations representing the United States at major international telecommunications conferences and engaged in bilateral discussions with senior level officials from countries around the world.
Before joining NTIA, Ms. Baker was Vice President at the firm of Williams Mullen Strategies where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property, and international trade issues. Earlier, she held the position as Senior Counsel to Covad Communications from 2000 to 2002, and Director of Congressional Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) from 1998 to 2000. Ms. Baker worked at the U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit in Houston and later at the law firm of DeLange and Hudspeth, L.L.P. From 1990 to 1992, she worked in the Legislative Affairs Office of the U.S. Department of State in Washington.
Ms. Baker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington & Lee University in 1990 and a law degree from the University of Houston in 1994. She is a member of the Texas State Bar. Ms. Baker and her husband Jamie reside in McLean, Virginia. She has four stepdaughters.