Tony Wilhelm
Director, Communications Policy Program
Benton Foundation

Anthony Wilhelm, Ph.D. joined the Benton Foundation in April 1999. Tony directs Benton's Communications Policy Program, a nonpartisan initiative to strengthen public interest efforts to shape the emerging communications environment and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems.

As Director of Information Technology Research at the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, Tony completed numerous research projects examining the effects of information and communication technologies on America's low-income and minority communities. He was also co-principal investigator for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supported Digital Steppingstones initiative, a three-year project examining exemplary uses of advanced telecommunications technologies in diverse learning environments.

He received his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University's School for Politics and Economics. His dissertation examined the role of emerging telecommunications technologies in empowering underserved communities in the United States. He received his bachelor of arts and master of arts in government from the University of Virginia.

His published works include: Democracy in the Digital Age (2000); Closing the Digital Divide (1998); Virtual Sounding Boards: How Deliberative Is Online Political Discussion (1998); Explaining Access to Computer-mediated Political Life (1997); Buying Into the Computer Age: A Look at the Hispanic Middle Class (1997); Out of Reach: Latinos, Education and Technology in California (1997); Latinos and Information Technology: Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century (1996); Creative Destruction in the Information Age: The Fallout on America's Latino Communities (1995); At What Cost Competition? Impacts of Telecommunications Deregulation on Latino Communities (1995); The Cost of Access: Will There Be Toll Booths on the Information Highway? (1995); Latino Equity and the Information Superhighway (1994); Issues in Telecommunications and Democracy (1993).

His research interest focuses on the impact of emerging communications technologies on political, economic, social and educational life in U.S. society. Two areas in which he has paid particular attention are: (1) questions around the implications of differential access to advanced telecommunications technologies, particularly for minority and low-income communities; (2) questions around how emerging technologies can facilitate full participation in society on the part of minority, low-income and rural users, including spurring greater economic development, social integration, enhanced educational opportunities, and political participation.

His research has been supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Benton Foundation, the Haynes Foundation, Ameritech, GTE, AT&T, Pacific Bell, and Southwestern Bell. He has served as a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Commerce's TIIAP competitive grants. His publications have received the endorsement of the Clinton Administration and have been covered in numerous newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily newspaper. Tony has been keynote speaker, panel moderator or participant at numerous conferences across the country related to telecommunications technology and its role in society.

Back to participants>>