Professor John Eger, J.D.
email: jeger@sciences.sdsu.edu
office: PSFA
phone: (619) 594-6910
office hours: posted each semester
John M. Eger, a telecommunications lawyer, is the Lionel Van Deerlin Endowed Professor of Communications and Public Policy at San Diego State University, and Executive Director of SDSU's International Center for Communications. He also serves as the founding President of the World Foundation for Smart Communities, a non-profit educational effort designed to help local communities connect to he global knowledge based economy.
Earlier, Professor Eger headed CBS Broadcast International and was Senior Vice President of the CBS Broadcast Group responsible for CBS International, CBS Cable, CBS Interconnects (a cable advertising service), EXTRAVISION (the networks teletext service), and development of all other new business enterprises worldwide. During this period, he introduced the concept of commercial television to the People's Republic of China and developed new marketing strategies involving the barter of advertiser-sponsored programming. He was also responsible for the development of the prize-winning home video documentary series "World War II with Walter Chronkite"; the inauguration of live and tape-delayed programming on domestic and international aircraft; and satellite delivery of "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" to Paris and Tokyo.
From 1973-1976, Professor Eger was Advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Director of the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP). He served on the Presidential Initiative on Privacy, the Cabinet Committee on Cable Television, and the Ad-hoc Committee on Regulatory Forum. During this time, Professor Eger helped spearhead the restructuring of America's telecommunications industry, particularly the divestiture of AT&T, and launched the first in a series of extended bilateral and multilateral discussions on international telecommunications trade matters. He also initiated the development of an Asian Basin secretariat on telecommunications, which resulted in the formation of a private sector, "Pacific Telecommunications Council," which he helped found in Honolulu in 1977.
From 1970-1973 Professor Eger was Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and special attorney and advisor to the general counsel of the FCC, involved in the historic specialized common carrier and interconnection proceedings, which were instrumental in introducing competition in the telecommunications industry in the early 1970s.
More recently Professor Eger served as Chairman of California Governor Pete Wilson's first Commission on Information Technology; and Chairman of San Diego Mayor Susan Golding's "City of the Future" Commission. Until 1999 he was also Chairman of the San Diego Data Processing Corporation, a city owned private corporation responsible for designing the city's information infrastructure and managing its private sector contracts for municipal services. He is author or editor of over a hundred publications, including books, book chapters, monographs, journal articles and op-eds on the subjects of international telecommunications, public policy, and economic development. He is also a frequent lecturer on the subjects of international communications, emerging trends in media and marketing, and more recently, revitalizing communities through the use of telecommunications.
Recently Professor Eger received the highest award from the Japanese Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for his leadership in building a strong Pacific alliance for telecommunications. He was also recently named as Advisor to the Government of the Netherlands Kenniswijk Broadband Communications Initiative, and named as a Fulbright Senior Specialist on telecommunications and economic development.
Courses Regularly Taught