FTC Chairman Announces Three Senior Appointments

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy J. Muris has announced the appointment of Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz, M. Sean Royall, and Alden Francis Abbott to senior positions within the Commission. Ted Cruz will join the Commission as Director of the Office of Policy Planning. In the Bureau of Competition, Sean Royall will become Deputy Director and Alden Abbott will be the Assistant Director of Policy & Evaluation.

Ted Cruz joins the Commission from the Department of Justice, where he served as Associate Deputy Attorney General handling policy matters for the Department. Prior to that, he was a Domestic Policy Advisor on the Bush-Cheney campaign and, before that, an associate at Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard, and his B.A., cum laude, in public policy from Princeton. After law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge J. Michael Luttig on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court. During his undergraduate years, Cruz was a two-time U.S. National Champion Debater and the First Place Speaker at the 1992 North American Debate Championships.

Prior to joining the Commission, Sean Royall was a partner with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where his practice focused exclusively on antitrust litigation. He has held leadership roles in the Antitrust Section of the ABA and recently completed a three-year term as Editorial Chair of the Antitrust Law Journal. Additionally, Royall is an adjunct professor of antitrust law at Washington & Lee University. Earlier in his career, he was a special assistant to Senator Phil Gramm, a judicial clerk to the Honorable Patrick J. Higginbotham, and an associate at Baker & Botts. Royall graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with honors, and received his B.A., magna cum laude, in economics from Texas A&M University. While at the University of Chicago Law School, Royall served as Managing Editor of the Law Review.

Alden Abbott rejoins the FTC from the Commerce Department where he has served since 1994, most recently as Acting General Counsel. Abbott's previous career highlights include serving as an attorney advisor in the FTC's Office of Policy Planning, senior positions in the Departments of Justice and Commerce, and Associate Dean for Technology Policy at George Mason University Law School. Abbott received his J.D. from Harvard University Law School, an M.A. from Georgetown University, and his B.A. from the University of Virginia.