India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) on November 14 announced the election of former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to a three-year term as an at-large member of the APTS board of trustees, effective February 26, 2024.

Pai, who chaired the FCC from 2017 to 2021, during the Donald Trump administration and was often derided online mostly for undoing the net neutrality rules, is now a partner at Searchlight Capital Partners, a global investment firm.

“America’s Public Television Stations are honored and delighted to welcome Ajit Pai to the APTS board,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler. “Over the course of his four years leading the FCC, Chairman Pai saw clearly the value of public television stations’ public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership, and his support on matters ranging from the spectrum auctions to the adoption of the NEXTGEN TV broadcast standard reflected that vision,” Butler said.

Pai in his statement said, “I have long recognized the value of public television, from my childhood affinity for Sesame Street through my tenure at the FCC.” 

Pai is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. He has worked in all three branches of government, including as a lawyer in various offices of the Department of Justice and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Nominated to be a Commissioner in 2011 by President Barack Obama, he was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 7, 2012, and was sworn in on May 14, 2012, for a five-year term.

In January 2017, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump designated Pai as FCC Chairman. He was the first Asian-American to hold the office. Later that year, Pai was nominated to serve another term (while remaining Chairman of the FCC) and was confirmed by the. After almost a dozen years at the agency, Pai returned to the private sector.