The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has tapped Gordon H. Smith, a former two-term U.S. Senator from Oregon, to succeed David Rehr as the NAB's new president and CEO.
The 57-year-old Smith served in the U.S. Senate from 1996 to 2008, where his committee assignments included the Senate Commerce Committee, the panel that oversees all broadcast-related legislation. Smith also served on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Smith's role on the Commerce Committee and as the chairman of a Senate High Tech Task Force will serve him well in dealing with new media and technology-related issues.
Smith, who most recently worked with Covington & Burling, will be introduced to broadcasters and make brief remarks at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia next week. He will officially begin his term on Nov. 1 and will be introduced to the entire NAB Board of Directors at a meeting in Dallas in mid-October.
