Clay 'Tom' Whitehead, Telecomm Policymaker and Entrepreneur

摘要

Clay "Tom" Whitehead, often called the "father of the Open Skies policy" for leading policies under President Richard Nixon that ensured competition in the cable television and telecommunications industries, died July 23 of prostate cancer. He was 69. Whitehead's career in telecommunications spanned the spectrum from government regulator, to founder of satellite operators Hughes Communications Inc. and Europe's Astra, to consultant and educator. He spent the past two decades op erating his own consulting firm in his hometown of McLean, Va., and was a visiting professor at George Mason University in nearby Fairfax, Va. "He was outspoken in the breaking up of the telecommunications monopolies like AT&T and Comsat," said Steve Dorf-man, retired vice chairman of Hughes Electronics Corp. who worked with Whitehead at Hughes and later succeeded him as president of Hughes Communications Inc. "He led the way in the deregulation of satellite communications in the United States and Europe."