Newton Norman Minow

Newton Minow is Senior Counsel in the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin LLP. Minow is former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He is currently the Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Chicago. He is Walter Annenberg University Professor Emeritus of Communications Law and Policy at Northwestern University. Minow is most famous for his speech, delivered to the National Association of Broadcasters in 1961, referring to television as a "vast wasteland." As FCC Commissioner, Minow's two most important achievements were persuading Congress to pass legislation clearing the way for communications satellites and the All-Channel Receiver Act, requiring UHF reception capability for all TV's, which sparked an increase in the number of TV stations and the creation of nonprofit educational TV (now PBS). He has sat on the Board of Directors at Foote, Cone & Belding Communications Inc.; Tribune Co.; Manpower, Inc.; AON Corp.; CBS, and Sara Lee Corporation. He has been Chairman of the Board at RAND Corporation. He was trustee of the Chicago Orchestral Association as well as with the Mayo Foundation, which operates Mayo Clinic. He is a life trustee of Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame, where he was the first Jewish member of the board, and he is currently Chairman of the Board of the World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance. He co-chaired the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates and is a vice-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates. He has served on numerous presidential commissions and was chairman of a special advisory committee to the Secretary of Defense on protecting civil liberties in the fight against terrorism. His book on the history of the Presidential debates was released in March 2008 by the University of Chicago Press. Minow is the recipient of 12 honorary degrees, including John Marshall Law School, Brandeis University, University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, DePaul University, and the University of Notre Dame. He also was honored with the Peabody Award in 1961 and the Woodrow Wilson Award for public service.