Kathleen Quinn Abernathy (born 1956) is an American telecommunications technology executive and lawyer who served as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2001 to 2005. Following government service, she joined the board of Frontier Communications while also returning to the practice of law. In 2010, she became a senior executive at Frontier and she served variously as Chief Legal Officer, Executive Vice President of External Affairs and Chair, America's Best Communities Prize Competition. In 2012, she joined the board of ISO New England, a regional energy transmission organization. She graduated from Marquette University magna cum laude, and from Catholic University's Columbus School of Law. She also served as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Universit