List of chairs of the Federal Communications Commission

The following is a list of the chairs of the Federal Communications Commission.^[1]

Chair of the Federal Communications Commission
Incumbent Brendan Carr since January 20, 2025
Term length	No fixed length
First holder	Eugene Sykes

List

No.	Image	Commissioner	Party	Home state	Start	End	Refs.
1		Eugene O. Sykes	Democratic	Mississippi	July 11, 1934	March 8, 1935	[2]
2		Anning S. Prall	Democratic	New York	March 9, 1935	July 23, 1937
3		Frank R. McNinch	Democratic	North Carolina	October 1, 1937	August 31, 1939
4		Larry Fly	Democratic	Texas	September 1, 1939	November 13, 1944
Acting		E. K. Jett	Independent	Maryland	November 16, 1944	December 20, 1944
5		Paul A. Porter	Democratic	Kentucky	December 21, 1944	February 25, 1946
Acting		Charles R. Denny	Democratic	District of Columbia	February 26, 1946	December 3, 1946
6					December 3, 1946	October 31, 1947
Acting		Paul A. Walker	Democratic	Oklahoma	November 3, 1947	December 28, 1947
7		Wayne Coy	Democratic	Indiana	December 29, 1947	February 21, 1952
8		Paul A. Walker	Democratic	Oklahoma	February 28, 1952	April 17, 1953
9		Rosel H. Hyde	Republican	Idaho	April 18, 1953	October 3, 1954
10		George McConnaughey	Republican	Ohio	October 4, 1954	June 30, 1957
11		John C. Doerfer	Republican	Wisconsin	July 1, 1957	March 10, 1960
12		Frederick W. Ford	Republican	West Virginia	March 15, 1960	March 1, 1961
13		Newton N. Minow	Democratic	Illinois	March 2, 1961	June 1, 1963
14		E. William Henry	Democratic	Tennessee	June 2, 1963	May 1, 1966
Acting		Rosel H. Hyde	Republican	Idaho	May 1, 1966	June 27, 1966
15					June 27, 1966	October 31, 1969
16		Dean Burch	Republican	Arizona	October 31, 1969	March 8, 1974
17		Richard E. Wiley	Republican	Illinois	March 8, 1974	October 13, 1977
18		Charles D. Ferris	Democratic	Massachusetts	October 17, 1977	February 4, 1981
Acting		Robert Lee	Republican	Illinois	February 5, 1981	April 13, 1981
19					April 13, 1981	May 18, 1981
20		Mark S. Fowler	Republican	Florida	May 18, 1981	April 17, 1987
21		Dennis R. Patrick	Republican	California	April 18, 1987	August 7, 1989
22		Alfred C. Sikes	Republican	Missouri	August 8, 1989	January 19, 1993
Acting		James H. Quello	Democratic	Michigan	February 5, 1993	November 28, 1993	[3]
23		Reed Hundt	Democratic	Maryland	November 29, 1993	November 3, 1997	[4]
24		William Kennard	Democratic	California	November 3, 1997	January 19, 2001	[5]
25		Michael Powell	Republican	Virginia	January 22, 2001	March 17, 2005	[6]
26		Kevin Martin	Republican	North Carolina	March 18, 2005	January 20, 2009	[7][8]
Acting		Michael Copps	Democratic	Wisconsin	January 22, 2009	June 28, 2009	[9]
27		Julius Genachowski	Democratic	Washington, D.C.	June 29, 2009	May 17, 2013	[10]
Acting		Mignon Clyburn	Democratic	South Carolina	May 20, 2013	November 4, 2013	[11]
28		Tom Wheeler	Democratic	California	November 4, 2013	January 20, 2017	[12][13]
29		Ajit Pai	Republican	Kansas	January 23, 2017	January 20, 2021	[14][15]
Acting		Jessica Rosenworcel	Democratic	Connecticut	January 20, 2021	October 26, 2021
30					October 26, 2021	January 20, 2025	[16]
31		Brendan Carr	Republican	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 2025	present	[17]