Managing Director, Core Capital Partners, 2009 Cable Hall of Fame
For three decades Tom Wheeler has worked at the forefront of telecommunications policy and business development, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as both a policy expert and businessman. As an entrepreneur he started or helped start multiple companies offering new cable, wireless and video communications services. As a policy expert he has been intimately engaged in the development of the government’s telecommunications policy at both the legislative and regulatory level.
On the 20th anniversary of the cable television industry (1995) Cablevision magazine selected him one of the 20 most influential individuals in the industry’s history. On the 25th anniversary of the cellular telecommunications industry (2008) Fierce Wireless named him one of the top 10 innovators in the wireless industry. Following the historic election of 2008 he led the Obama Transition’s efforts on science, technology, space and the arts.
From 1976 to 1984, Mr. Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was president from 1979 to 1984. After several years as CEO of new technology start-ups, including the first company to offer high speed delivery of data to home computers and the first digital video delivery service, Mr. Wheeler was asked to take over the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). He served as CEO of CTIA from 1992-2004 and was selected to the Wireless Industry Hall of Fame.
Mr. Wheeler wrote Take Command: Leadership Lessons of the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000) and Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). His commentaries on current events have been published in the Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and other leading publications.
Presidents Clinton and Bush each appointed Mr. Wheeler a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where he served for 12 years. He is the former Chairman of the Foundation for the National Archives, and board member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
Mr. Wheeler is a graduate of Ohio State University and the recipient of its Alumni Medal for national and international career achievement. He resides in Washington, D.C.
