Clay T. Whitehead
Clay T. "Tom" Whitehead (November 13 1938 – July 23 2008) was an United States government official who served as director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1970 to 1974, during the Nixon administration. His work on what became the Federal Communications Commission Open Skies policy led to deregulation of private communication satellites and sweeping changes in the cable industry. [1]
After his career at OTP, Whitehead joined Hughes Aircraft and started the Hughes Communications subsidiary that launched the Galaxy satellite system. He also started SES Astra, the first private satellite business in Europe. [2]
Whitehead was born in Neodesha, Kansas. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning his undergraduate and master's degrees in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in management in 1967.
In a noted 1972 speech, Whitehead used the terms "elitist gossip" and "ideological plugola" to echo the Nixon administration's claims of liberal bias in network news.[2]
References
- ^ Bernstein, Adam (2008-08-02). "Clay 'Tom' Whitehead, 69; Nixon's telecom advisor revolutionized cable TV industry". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ a b Hevesi, Dennis (2008-07-31). "Clay T. Whitehead, guide of policy that helped cable TV, is dead at 69". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-02. Cite error: The named reference "nytobit" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
External link
- Clay T. Whitehead via Society of Satellite Professionals International Hall of Fame