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Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic announced today that Nancy Ness Judy, Director of the Office of Public Affairs, will leave the agency, and that Claudia Bourne Farrell, currently a Senior Public Affairs Specialist, has been named Acting Director. He also announced that Peter Kaplan, currently a reporter with Reuters, has been named Deputy Director of the Office.

“Nancy has done an outstanding job for this agency. Thanks in large measure to Nancy’s leadership and expertise, the Public Affairs Office is highly regarded inside and outside the FTC for providing effective communications,” Chairman Kovacic said. “We are very fortunate that Claudia Bourne Farrell will become the Office’s Acting Director.”

Since her appointment as Director in February 2004, Judy has been a positive force in developing communication strategies for key consumer protection and competition issues, such as weight-loss advertising, gasoline prices, real estate competition, subprime lending, privacy, and data security. She led the agency’s efforts to redesign its Web site and developed a program to give it long-term guidance and support. Judy was a key driver in creating the Bureau of Competition’s consumer outreach campaign, which communicates the FTC’s valuable contributions to a competitive marketplace. In 2007, she received the FTC Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Supervision.

Before joining the Commission, Judy was public relations director at Myvesta, a nonprofit financial services organization. She also served as financial services group manager for The ProMarc Agency following 10 years of public relations and public affairs work at the American Bankers Association. Her career began in the political arena as deputy press secretary for U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger. After leaving the Commission, Judy will become Senior Director of Communications for Sodexo’s Education Market.

Kovacic also announced that Claudia Bourne Farrell will serve as Acting Director of the Office of Public Affairs. Farrell joined the FTC in 1994, initially serving as Acting Director of the Office of Public Affairs. She has covered a broad spectrum of issues ranging from antitrust matters, such as the Dell and Rambus matters, to consumer protection issues, including privacy, security, and high-tech issues. Farrell received the FTC’s Janet D. Steiger Award for her work on the FTC’s identity theft team, as well as the agency’s Otis B. Johnson Award for sustained outstanding performance.

Earlier in her career, Farrell directed external communication for the International Space Station program office at NASA. She has also been a public relations and media placement consultant to various public and private organizations, and she served as press secretary to U. S. Senator Charles H. Percy.

In addition, Kovacic announced that Peter Kaplan has been named Deputy Director of the agency’s Office of Public Affairs. Kaplan joins the Commission from Reuters, where for the past seven years he has been Washington legal correspondent covering antitrust, patent, and consumer protection matters, as well as the Federal Communications Commission.

During his 19 years as a journalist, Kaplan has worked for Congressional Quarterly, Bridge News (formerly Knight-Ridder financial wire), The Washington Times, the Washington Business Journal, and the Baltimore Business Journal. Earlier in his career he served as administrator and public relations director of the University of Maryland’s crisis hotline.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

(OPA Changes)