Newton Minow

Newton N. Minow
Newton Minow (May 2006)
Born	Newton Norman Minow (1926-01-17) January 17, 1926 (age 91) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Residence	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nationality	USA
Alma mater	Northwestern University (B.S., 1949) Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., 1950)
Occupation	Honorary Consul General, Republic of Singapore, attorney
Employer	Sidley Austin LLP
Spouse(s)	Josephine Baskin
Children	Nell, Martha, Mary

Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. His speech referring to television as a "vast wasteland" is cited even as the speech has passed its 50th anniversary. While still maintaining a law practice, Minow is currently the Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Chicago.

Minow has been active in Democratic party politics. He is an influential attorney in private practice concerning telecommunications law and is active in many nonprofit, civic, and educational institutions. Barack Obama named him a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for 2016.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926, Minow served in World War II from 1944 to 1946 and attained the rank of a sergeant in the U.S. Army. He served in the China Burma India Theater with the 835th Signal Service Battalion headquartered in New Delhi, India. After the war, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1949 from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor degree in 1950 from Northwestern University School of Law. It was possible in the period after the war for law students who had not completed college to be granted a bachelor's degree after a certain period of study in law school.