Previously we reported that John Kennedy of OET received an MSEE under the FCC’s Graduate Degree Program that began under Chmn. Powell at the request of former OET Chief Ed Thomas. Since the FCC budget historically has had a bipolar personality-like swings between highs and lows, Ed asked for permission to start a long term program with the understanding that those admitted would have priority access to whatever training funds are available in a given year. Members of the program are accepted from all parts of FCC and are expected to take graduate courses in EE on a regular basis with the objective of an MSEE degree.

Most other federal agencies that employ large numbers of engineers fund MS programs for new hires as to most private employers. Thus the existence of this program is key for FCC to stay competitive in hiring engineers. FCC had a similar program in the 1970s but it died during the Reagan era budgets

Recently, Benham (Ben) Ghaffari of OET became the second FCC staffer to receive this degree. Congratulations to Ben on this accomplishment and we should all hope this worthwhile program survives the inevitable budget crunch coming to FCC soon.

The first degree recipient, John Kennedy, was recently promoted to Chief, Spectrum Coordination Branch, OET Policy and Rules Division - the group that is the day-to-day interface with NTIA and IRAC.