The announcement came a month after a handful of watchdog groups asked FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz to appoint a new consumer protection chief post haste. They wanted someone who had "a track record as a genuine champion of consumer rights" and someone whose experience reflects not simply a broad familiarity with industry procedures, but a deep commitment to proactively protecting the public from all manner of unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent practices. Lydia Parnes, who had the job for four years, left the agency recently to join law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Her deputy, Eileen Harrington, took over as acting director. Center for Digital Democracy's Jeff Chester called Vladeck's appointment "great news for the public interest" and those interested in privacy, online advertising, and marketing regulation.

Other new senior FTC appointments include:

• Richard Feinstein, who rejoined the agency as director of the Bureau of Competition, after serving as a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
• Former University of California-Berkeley professor Joseph Farrell, who was named director of the Bureau of Economics.
• Susan DeSanti, who will be director of policy planning, after focusing on antitrust and litigation at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.
• Jeanne Bumpus, who was re-appointed as director of the Office of Congressional Relations after serving in that position since June 2006.
• Joni Lupovitz, who will serve as chief of staff to Leibowitz.