Richard E. Wiley Named to IRTS Foundation Hall of Mentorship

August 16, 2013

The IRTS Foundation is recognizing Wiley Rein Chairman Richard E. Wiley as one of three media pacesetters “who inspire us to make a difference through mentoring.” 

“We now proudly honor extraordinary leaders,” IRTS president and CEO Joyce Tudryn said in a statement.  “May their examples set some models in motion and serve as a call for action to all.”

Mr. Wiley served as chairman, commissioner, and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the 1970s, when he worked to foster increased competition and lessened regulation in communications.  He chaired the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service for nine years, a period that led to his being dubbed the “father of high-definition television.”

Mr. Wiley heads his firm’s Communications Practice—the nation’s largest—representing organizations including Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, the Newspaper Association of America, CBS, Motorola, Belo, Gannett, Gray Television, Sirius XM Radio, Emmis, and LG Electronics.  The “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the U.S.,” according to the International Herald Tribune, he is a frequent writer and lecturer on telecommunications and information law.

This year’s other two honorees are Alan Cohen, president and CEO of media agency OMD USA, and Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Company.

The IRTS Foundation (formerly the International Radio and Television Society Foundation) is a nonprofit that focuses on building leaders in all areas of electronic media.  Mr. Wiley, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Graham will be honored October 15 in a ceremony at the Pierre in New York City.  Proceeds from the event will benefit IRTS educational programs.