Jan. 30, 2018: Powell ’75 Confirmed as Fed Chair; Whitman ’77 To Head Mobile-Video Startup; and More

On Jan. 23, the Senate confirmed Jerome Powell ’75 as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. — Fortune

Meg Whitman ’77 has been named the CEO of WndrCo’s NewTV, a mobile-video startup offering high-budget short videos targeting 18- to 34-year-olds. — The Wall Street Journal 

President Donald Trump nominated entrepreneur and philanthropist Trevor Traina ’90 to be the U.S. ambassador to Austria. — San Francisco Chronicle

FBI Director Christopher Wray named Zachary Harmon ’91, a partner at King & Spalding, as his new chief of staff. — The National Law Journal

Caroline Park ’11 will be a member of Korea’s unified women’s ice hockey team in the 2018 Winter Olympics. — CBC

Maria Ressa ’86, the editor of the Manila-based news site Rappler, is fighting moves by the Philippine government to shut down her company’s operations due to critical coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte. — Reuters

In an article about NBA star Joel Embiid, Benjamin Domb ’97, an orthopedic surgeon, says that taller athletes are at an increased risk of injury because their muscle strength does not keep pace with their increase in weight. — Philadelphia Inquirer

“If you stop learning when you leave college, you lose out, in professional as well as personal terms.”

— David Silver ’04, the head of Udacity’s Self-Driving Car team, who says the limited pool of programmers may be holding back advances in the field. Read more in Silver’s column for The Next Web

Greg Orman ’91 officially launched an independent bid for governor of Kansas. — Kansas City Star

Environmental advocate David Pringle ’88 joined the race for the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district, vying for a seat currently held by Republican Rep. Leonard Lance *82. — Observer

Lorraine Sterritt *97 was named the 17th president — and the first woman president  — of Saint Michael’s College in Burlington, Vt. — Burlington Free Press

Microsoft President Brad Smith ’81 and Princeton computer science professor Jennifer Rexford ’91 discussed the unpredictable side-effects of automation at the World Economic Forum in Davos. — Business Insider

Jason Sun *96, the curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Asian Art, explains how the fragility of many Chinese artifacts requires innovative engineering solutions during exhibitions to prevent damage. — China Daily

Ramesh Ponnuru ’95 argues that instead of partially halting government operations during shutdowns, it makes more sense to pass a continuing resolution and keep spending levels flat for a fixed period of time. — Bloomberg View

Mat Tomkowiak *17 is running for the Illinois State Democratic Central Committee as a write-in candidate — an effort that he says is made more difficult by the length of his last name. — WGN 9