APPAREL
Rob Willis was hired as vice president of sales at the Irvine office of Rusty Surfboards and Apparel, a surfboard and surfwear maker. Willis most recently was national sales manager at Billabong USA and will oversee the men’s and junior’s sales divisions at Rusty. Paul Harvey was promoted to marketing director at the company. He previously was the sales representative for Orange County and Los Angeles.
ARTS
Mary Lyons was named president of Arts Orange County, which recently combined with Imagination Celebration of Orange County. Lyons headed Arts Orange County before the combination. Bonnie Hall was named executive director. Patricia Wayne was named director of programs and education. Arts Orange County presents the annual Imagination Celebration spring youth and family arts festival and plans to develop other arts education programs.
BANKING
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. appointed Matthew Richey as private banker at its Huntington Harbor branch. Richey joined the bank in 1995.
EDUCATION
Jo Ellen Allen, director of public affairs for the southern region of Southern California Edison Co., was named to the board of the Orange County High School of the Arts Foundation in Santa Ana. Allen serves on the boards of the Orange County Business Council, Orange County Forum, Orange County Pacific Symphony, KOCE-TV Foundation board and executive committee, the Santa Ana Education Foundation and the Orange County Taxpayers Association.
Corinthian Colleges Inc. in Santa Ana named Carmella Cassetta as vice president and chief information officer. Cassetta most recently was corporate vice president for global application development at Ingram Micro Inc.
GOVERNMENT
Gail Farber was named public works director and city engineer for the city of Orange. Farber most recently served as director of public works and city engineer for Pico Rivera. She will oversee a 120-member staff as well as engineering traffic, construction, maintenance and water divisions. She replaces Harry Thomas, who retired in July.
HEALTHCARE
Laguna Beach resident Robert K. Cole and Newport Beach’s Karen Linden were elected to the board at Newport Beach-based Hoag Hospital Foundation. Cole is cofounder, chairman and chief executive at Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp.
LAW
Derik Lewis joined the Costa Mesa office of Phoenix-based Snell & Wilmer LLP. Lewis specializes in commercial finance and real estate.
Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP, an intellectual property specialty law firm, added 20 associates at its Irvine headquarters: Azadeh Agahi, Nicholas D. Atchison, Michael K. Erickson, Adam J. Gilbert, Michael W. Gray, John F. Heal, Colin B. Heideman, Daniel C. Higgs, Stephen R. Jenkins, Agnes H.Z. Juang, Jarom D. Kesler, Theodore G. Papagiannis, David A. Petrini, Vishnu S. Reddy, Steven P. Ruden, Ashley M. Schneider, Ahsan Shaikh, Bryan W. Wahl, Friederike I. Woltereck and Thomas Y. Yee.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Sheldon Group, a Southern California lobbying firm based in Newport Beach, promoted Marlo Naber to director of public affairs. Naber will direct government, community and media relations for real estate development projects and government agency contracts.
REAL ESTATE
George S. Livermore was promoted to president of the property information group at Santa Ana-based First American Corp. He will oversee the property information group unit, as well as maintain his responsibilities as president of First American Real Estate Solutions. Livermore replaces Dennis J. Gilmore, who’s now chief operating officer for First American.
Todd Frye was appointed as managing director at the Anaheim office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis Inc. Frye formerly was director of marketing and leasing at Olen Properties Corp.
TECHNOLOGY
US Modular LLC, a memory and storage company, appointed Thomas S. Harden as vice president of finance. Harden formerly was director of finance and corporate controller at Netlist Inc.
Information in People is supplied by businesses. Submit items to features@ocbj.com or Orange County Business Journal, Attention: People, 2600 Michelson Drive, Ste. 170, Irvine, CA 92612. Include the name and phone number of someone to contact. Photos are encouraged but cannot be returned.
