ACCOUNTING
Brett Beightol and Gary E. Wilson were promoted from assurance senior managers to audit partners in the Irvine office of Chicago-based Grant Thornton LLP.
White, Nelson & Co., based in Anaheim, hired Jeanine Erickson as audit manager. Erickson most recently was with Kieckhafer, Schiffer & Co.
ADVERTISING & PUBLIC RELATIONS
Brenda Deeley was promoted from account manager to vice president at Irvine’s Porter Novelli.
Heil-Brice Retail Ad-vertising, based in Newport Beach, added Scott Smith as account director and Chad Bailey as assistant account manager. Smith previously was with Meguiar’s Inc., where he was a strategic planner. Bailey comes from Jackson-Dawson West.
ARCHITECTURE
Newport Beach-based Taylor, an architectural and interior design firm, promoted Diane McGill from graphic arts director to associate. McGill joined the company in 1993.
ARTS &
ENTERTAINMENT
Robert Jones was appointed president and executive director of Opera Pacific in Santa Ana. Jones succeeds Martin Hubbard, who became chairman. Jones formerly served as president of the National Symphony Orchestra and vice president of music at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Anaheim Arena Management LLC promoted Tracie Jones to director of marketing at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Jones most recently was marketing and promotions manager at the Pond, which she joined in 1999.
Balboa resident Socorro Vasquez was voted onto the board of The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation. Vasquez is on the boards of St. Joseph Ballet, South Coast Repertory and the Orange County Community Foundation.
BANKING
Orange County Group Inc., part of Orange County Credit Union, appointed Bill Partin as chief executive. Partin previously was president of Duerr Financial Corp.
Huntington Beach resident Charles L. Pedersen, executive vice president of systems technology and item processing group at San Francisco-based Union Bank of California, retired in December. Pedersen’s career at the bank spans three decades and includes awards for leadership and pioneering innovations in automation, technology and bank growth.
Irvine-based Western Financial Bank added Shiva Sattar as program director of investment services. Sattar formerly was in various senior level positions at Wells Fargo & Co.
Julie Souverielle was named vice president and manager of the residential lending department at the Long Beach headquarters of Farmers & Merchants Bank. Prior to joining the bank, Souverielle was manager at Bay Cities National Bank.
CONSTRUCTION
Mary Ellen Copek was appointed talent director at Sukut Construction Inc., based in Santa Ana. Copek most recently was director of human resources at Corona-based Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.
EDUCATION
John P. Wareham, chief executive officer of Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc., was appointed to the UCI Medical Center Executive Council. Wareham also is a director of the Advanced Medical Technology Association.
ENGINEERING
Robert W. Bein of RBF Consulting retired as chief executive and became chairman.
FINANCE
Lincoln Financial Distributors Inc. appointed William Bagnard as divisional sales manager. Bagnard will represent the company’s American Legacy unit for the Western U.S, including Orange County.
Tim Gannaway was named chief information officer at Costa Mesa-based RSM EquiCo, part of H & R; Block Inc.’s RSM McGladrey Business Services. Gannaway previously was vice president of information technology at RSM.
Dennis J. Gilmore was named chief operating officer at Santa Ana-based First American Corp. Gilmore will continue his role as president of First American’s property information group. Prior to joining First American in 1991, Gilmore was vice president for TRTS Data Services Inc.
New Century Financial Corp., a real estate investment trust and mortgage finance company based in Irvine, hired Jeffrey D. Goldberg as vice president and treasurer. Goldberg formerly was with Morgan Stanley, where he was vice president of mergers, acquisitions and restructurings.
Irvine resident Carl Groner joined Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co. as senior vice president of West Coast acquisitions. Groner will be heading Trans-
western’s newly opened Los Angeles office and also will work out of its Irvine office.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Emergent Respiratory Products Inc. appointed Gary Calvaneso as vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to joining Emergent, Calvaneso was vice president of marketing for Viasys Healthcare’s critical care ventilator division.
HOSPITALITY
Michelle Frye was named director at the Pacific Waters Spa at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa. Frye formerly served as assistant manager at Anara Spa at the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort and Spa.
INSURANCE
Newport Beach-based Pacific Life Insurance Co. promoted Dennis L. Bahlmann to assistant vice president of new business services.
Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency, headquartered in Brea, added Brian Iannessa as senior public relations specialist. Iannessa most recently was with Huntington Advertising and P.R.
LAW
Ren R. Hayhurst was named managing partner of Bryan Cave LLP’s Irvine office where he will succeed Steve Sunshine. Since joining in 1995, Hayhurst has served in leadership roles in Irvine and firmwide.
Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis LLP added Elizabeth A. Krichmar as associate in the commercial litigation group at its Irvine office. Krichmar comes from Allen Matkins Leck Gamble
& Mallory where she served as an associate.
Kring & Chung LLP, headquartered in Irvine, added three new litigation associates to their construction-defect practice: Marla G. Ness, Brendan J. Coughlin and Jeffery M. Suckiel.
Matt Paskerian of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s real estate practice group was promoted to partner at the Philadelphia-based firm’s Irvine office.
MARKETING
Iacunato/Mclane added Angela Arthur as vice president of account services to its Irvine headquarters. Arthur most recently was with BLVDwest Inc. and brings expertise in healthcare marketing.
Newport Beach-based The Peterson
Group named John Behringer project manager of technology. Behringer brings his expertise as a network architect and manager.
Hilary Hansen was appointed senior account executive and Bridget Johnson was named media director at Irvine-based The Skiver Group. Hansen formerly was in media and account management positions at Wieden+Kennedy. Johnson previously was with Foote Cone & Belding.
Media Partners Worldwide, which is
based in Long Beach, appointed Kathi Moore as vice president, account
services.
NONPROFIT
Richard Calef, facilities and security manager at historic landmark Mission San Juan Capistrano, retired in December after 21 years, the first six as parish sacristan.
The Cordelia Knott Wellness Foundation in Orange appointed Sue Foster to its board. Foster also has served with the Assistance League of Orange as well as for the Orange-Olive School reading program.
Charles Hayes, president of OCB Reprographics, was named to the board of Community Service Programs in Santa Ana.
REAL ESTATE
The South Coast division of John Laing Homes, part of Newport Beach’s WL Homes LLC, named Linda Mamet as vice president of sales and marketing. Mamet worked as a consultant with the company for the past year. Prior to that, she
was vice president of marketing at
Inter@ctivate Inc.
Newport Beach-based The Koll Company added Charles Auf-hammer as director of leasing. Aufhammer comes from Wohl Investment Co., where he was director of leasing.
RESTAURANTS
David Wetzel was appointed director of operations for Irvine-based El Pollo Loco Inc. Prior to joining the company, Wetzel was chief operating officer of It’s A Grind in Long Beach.
SERVICES
Robert Schumacher was named senior vice president of global relocation services at Paragon Relocation Resources Inc., which is based in Rancho Santa Margarita. Schumacher most recently served as executive vice president and founder of Newport Mobility.
TECHNOLOGY
Fairport, N.Y.-based Paetec Communica-tions Inc., part of Paetec Corp., added James “Jim” Baxter as regional manager at its Irvine office.
Tom Boivin was named director of distribution at Irvine-based Roland DGA Corp., a unit of Japan’s Roland Corp. that makes printers and other products for graphic arts.
Santa Ana-based Pro-Dex Inc., a provider of motion-control devices for health-
care, semiconductor and scientific
research markets, appointed Tim Hirou as vice president of business develop-
ment and Karina Ozar as clinical market
specialist.
