EDUCATION
Miles Coolidge was named chair of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts studio art department at the University of California, Irvine. Coolidge is an associate professor at UC Irvine and a professional photographer.
The board of trustees of the Laguna Beach College of Art & Design elected Nicole Anderson, Nancy Beverage and Patricia O’Brien as members. Anderson is a lawyer at Anderson Law Group in Laguna Beach. Beverage is a retired manager from IBM Corp. O’Brien is a cultural historian and author from Laguna Beach.
Wendy Adams, George Argyros Jr., Adam Devone, Kevin Dunigan, Gary Lisenbee, Luke McKelvy and Charles Zhang joined the advisory board at the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University.
Sue Mendizza was appointed associate dean of instruction and student services for the Santa Ana College School of Continuing Education. Mendizza has worked at Santa Ana College since 1989 and previously was an associate professor and faculty coordinator. In her position as dean she will supervise the continuing education school and staff as well as resolve student problems.
ENGINEERING
Mark Briggs was hired as vice president in the Orange office of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. As vice president, Briggs will be responsible for securing financing and investment for the engineering and construction management company. He previously worked at Cherokee Investment Services Inc.
FINANCE
Maryland-based Walker & Dunlop LLC hired Chuck Mills as vice president of the multifamily finance group in Orange County. Mills, who previously was the president of CEM Capital in San Juan Capistrano, will focus on lending for apartments and healthcare financing in the western region.
Nella Webster O’Grady joined Newport Beach-based Palo Capital as a principal. In this role she will be responsible for business development and managing client relationships. Webster O’Grady has held senior positions at various investment companies including Wilmington Trust Corp. and First American Trust Co.
Tustin-based Yates & Associates hired Laura Ruetz and Sheila Webb in its property and casualty underwriting department. Ruetz previously was at Klein & Costa Insurance in Santa Ana as a property and casualty commercial business underwriter. Webb most recently was the western region coordinator at Western Maritime Inc.
NONPROFIT
Irvine Housing Opportunities Inc. added Jim Jimenez and Jeffrey Parsell to its board. Jimenez is a former partner with Grant Thornton LLP in Irvine. Parsell currently
is an audit senior manager at the Irvine offices of Windes & McClaughry Accountancy Corp.
Karen Francis joined Orange County United Way as director of community investments. She will be responsible for overseeing funds and monitoring evaluations and results for the nonprofit.
REAL ESTATE
Voit Real Estate Services hired John Pierce as president of its commercial brokerage division. He will be responsible for promoting the company’s image and creating business opportunities. Pierce previously was vice president of marketing for Newport Beach-based Koll Co.
Cresa Partners LLC hired Karl Heim,
John Desper, Matt Moore and Eric Antonini in its Newport Beach offices. Heim and Desper have been brought on as senior vice presidents and Moore and Antonini as vice presidents. Prior to joining Cresa Partners, Moore worked at NAI Capital in Newport Beach and Antonini worked at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. in Washington D.C.
New York-based Emmes Group of Cos. hired Lisa Nugent as the property manager for The Michelson building on the southeast corner of Jamboree Road and the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. Nugent previously was the assistant manager for the building, which was acquired by Emmes in June. She will manage day-to-day operations for the building including tenant, security and janitorial needs.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based Comtrend Corp. hired John DiFrenna as vice president of sales for North America. Prior to joining Comtrend, DiFrenna was associate vice president of business development and broadband sales at D-Link Systems Inc. in Fountain Valley. In his new position he will be
responsible for expanding Comtrend’s
market share and maintaining the company’s relationships with resellers and distributors.
