Charles D. Ferris

Early life and education

Ferris was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts to Henry Joseph and Mildred Mary (née MacDonald) Ferris. His father worked for Boston's metropolitan transit authority and his mother as a telegrapher for Western Union. He attended Boston College High School and Boston College, leaving the latter in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts in physics. Upon graduation, he was hired by Sperry Corporation as a research physicist.

Faced with the prospect of being drafted into the United States Army, Ferris applied for Navy officer candidate school in 1954 and entered active service the following year. Eventually he attained the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) and was made chief engineer on the destroyer . From 1958 to 1960 he was on assignment as an assistant professor of naval science at Harvard University, teaching celestial navigation and marine engineering to Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets. At night, Ferris attended Boston College Law School, receiving his J.D. degree in 1961.

Legal career

Justice Department

From 1961 to 1963 he was a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice Civil Division as part of the Attorney General's honor program.

Legislative work

From 1963 to 1977 he served as associate general counsel and later general counsel to the United States Senate Democratic Policy Committee. In 1977 he served as general counsel to Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill.

Federal Communications Commission

In September 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Ferris to chair the Federal Communications Commission. While most scholars look the term of Reagan appointee Mark S. Fowler as the beginning of telecommunications deregulation, deregulation actually began with Ferris. The most significant effect Ferris had on the FCC was shifting the commission's reasoning from legal and technical to an economic one.

Private practice

Ferris practiced law with Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo from 1981 to 2013. He retired in 2013.

Personal life

Ferris was married to Patricia Ferris née Brennan, with whom he had daughters, Caroline and Sabrina.

Ferris died on February 16, 2024, at the age of 90.

References

References

1. (June 5, 2013). "Commissioners from 1934 to Present". Federal Communications Commission.
2. Jung, Donald. (1993). "The Federal Communications Commission, the Broadcast Industry, and the Fairness Doctrine 1981-1987". University Press of America.
3. Bird, David. (May 9, 1979). "Regulation Foe Atop the F.C.C.". [[The New York Times]].
4. "Charles D. Ferris, Esq.". [[Marquis Who's Who]].
5. (April 5, 2004). "Charles D. Ferris, Staff Director, Democratic Policy Committee, 1963-1977, Oral History Interview #1". [[United States Senate Historical Office]].
6. Marks, Fred. (August 20, 2018). "Charles D. Ferris Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who". www.24-7pressrelease.com.
7. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015076086787&view=1up&seq=25&size=125&q1=Charles%20D.%20Ferris Nominations, September hearings before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session ... (1977)]
8. Brown, Les. (1977-09-14). "Charles Ferris Named to Head F.C.C.". The New York Times.
9. [https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/455736/charles-d-ferris-presented-with-the-albert-nelson-marquis-lifetime-achievement-award-by-marquis-whos-who Charles D. Ferris Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who]
10. "Charles D. Ferris".