FTC Announces New Chief Technology Officer and Public Affairs Director

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The agency’s acting CTO was appointed to the permanent position, after a year of working in an acting capacity.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan appointed two new senior leaders for the agency on Monday. Stephanie Nguyen will be the FTC’s new chief technology officer and Douglas Farrar will be the new public affairs director. 

“I’m excited to welcome Stephanie and Doug to the FTC’s senior leadership team,” Khan said. “Their knowledge and experience will strengthen the FTC in two key areas, ensuring that we keep pace with the latest developments in technology and that we’re communicating clearly with the public about the critical work of the agency.”

After serving as the FTC’s acting CTO since October 2021, Nguyen’s position has been made permanent. She has more than 10 years of leadership experience as well as technical product and service design experience across government, academia, civil society and the private sector, with a focus on designing human-computer interaction and researching user experience. Before working at the FTC, Nguyen worked for the U.S. Digital Service at the White House and as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Before Farrar’s new role at the FTC, he served as the vice president of communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Farrar was also previously the assistant director of communications at the Aspen Institute and a communications and legislative aide at the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The agency has been without a permanent CTO since October 2021, when Erie Meyer left the position, and Nguyen took over in an acting capacity.