"We are so pleased to have someone with such extensive media, entertainment and Internet experience on the Board," said Fred Bollerer, Potomac KnowledgeWay president and CEO. "George's leadership at AOL helping to chart a new course for the interactive medium, and his impressive 14-year career at Fox and CBS is a testament to his ability to manage the complexities of Internet and broadcast content in a changing social and technological environment. His experience is well-suited to the issues the regional InfoComm industry faces as the lines between content, communications and computing systems become more blurred due to evolving technology."

"I'm excited about the opportunity to be involved in the Potomac KnowledgeWay's work to heighten awareness about the technological forces reshaping our economy and to identify new ways to attract and retain a world-class employee base in our region," said Vradenburg. "This area has extraordinary strengths in technology and education. The KnowledgeWay is helping to connect these resources in new ways, further strengthening the region's position as a global leader in information technology."

Vradenburg, who joined America Online in 1997 as general counsel, was recently promoted to his newly-created global policy position. In this new role, Vradenburg focuses on setting AOL's strategic course on evolving policy issues facing the interactive medium. He reports to AOL Chairman and CEO Steve Case.

During the past two years, Mr. Vradenburg has helped AOL lead the industry on numerous policy issues both domestically and internationally, including protecting consumer privacy, winning industry support for a pledge of "zero tolerance" for child-related crimes online, campaigning against spam, protecting intellectual property online and developing a new framework for e-commerce and international trade. He is a frequent speaker in this country and overseas on Internet policy and has testified in Congress on electronic commerce, copyright and privacy issues. Vradenburg was a featured speaker at the 1997 Bonn Ministerial Conference on electronic commerce.

Prior to joining America Online, Mr. Vradenburg was a senior partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins and co-chair of its Entertainment & Media Practice Group. He previously served as senior vice president and general counsel of CBS, Inc. and executive vice president of Fox, Inc. Vradenburg is a graduate of Oberlin college and Harvard Law School.

The Potomac KnowledgeWay is a not-for-profit leadership organization acting as a catalyst, thought leader and idea incubator to help prepare and educate this region to be competitive in the advanced telecommunications, Internet and content industries and the new opportunities their gradual convergence will create in the Greater Washington region.

America Online, Inc. is the world's leader in branded interactive services and content. America Online, Inc. operates two worldwide Internet online services: America Online, with more than 14 million members; and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members.