BUSINESS CONSULTING
Lee Ducharme was named senior vice president of the supply chain design and implementation division of Ray Rivero & Associates Inc., an industrial engineering and management-consulting firm in Irvine. Ducharme was previously vice president of purchasing at Sony Pictures Entertainment and vice president of re-engineering for Neutrogena Corporation.
The Planning Center, Costa Mesa, added Demitrius Zeigler as urban and regional planner. He is a graduate of Cornell University.
StrategyWeek.com, Portola Hills, named Juhi Jotwani business development director. Jotwani was previously a consultant with IBM Global Services India Private Ltd. StrategyWeek is designed to assist start-up entrepreneurs start online ventures.
Foster W. Mobley was named president and managing partner of Santa Ana-based The Legacy Alliance. Mobley will head the firm’s expansion into national markets and the development of product and web-based sales.
CONSTRUCTION
R.D. Olson Construction, Irvine, named Jack Stones director of project supervision. He has been with the construction firm since 1988. Stones will oversee 22 projects, 35 superintendents, and 14 work crews.
Kansas City, Mo.-based HNTB Companies named Charles L. O’Reilly president of HNTB Design/Build Inc., Irvine. O’Reilly was formerly president of Thomas K. Dyer Inc., an HNTB subsidiary. The company plans to expand its position in the design-build market with civil transportation-related projects.
EDUCATION
The Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees elected Brian Conley, Santa Ana, board president. He has held a seat on the board since 1988. The Rancho Santiago Community College District, which includes Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College, serves residents of Anaheim Hills, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana and Villa Park.
Susan Bryant, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, was named dean of UCI’s School of Biological Sciences. Bryant, of Costa Mesa, joined the university staff in 1969. She will oversee more than 100 faculty members and researchers, who teach 3,000 undergraduates and 170 graduate students.
ENTERTAINMENTM
Ruben Smith of Laguna Nigel was appointed to the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center board of directors. Smith, a co-managing partner in the Irvine-based law firm of Alvardo, Smith & Sanchez will replace Don Willet, of Newport Beach, who served two terms on the board. The Fair board is comprised of nine members, appointed by the governor, to serve one or more terms without pay.
Marcia Lazer joined South Coast Repertory as director of marketing. She was former marketing director of the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera and the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. Lazer will be responsible for generating more than $5 million for the Costa Mesa arts organization through subscriptions, ticket sales and special events. She will also oversee staff.
ENVIRONMENT
Neville Laatsch was promoted to vice president and branch manager of Valley Crest’s Water Features and Theming division in Placentia. He was formerly a project executive for Valley Crest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Laatsch, who joined Valley Crest in 1966, will be responsible for the management and financial planning of all estimating, purchasing and scheduling field work and equipment use. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Environmental Industries Inc.
HEALTHCARE
Jeanie Norton-Freese joined Larson Long Term Care Insurance Marketing LLC as a certified long-term care specialist. She will be marketing the policies of long-term care insurance companies in the Riverside and Orange County.
Tustin Hospital and Medical Center hired Beverly Genis, Huntington Beach, as director of surgery. She was the former quality resource manager at Mission Ambulatory Surgicenter in Mission Viejo. Genis reports to CEO Jane Wingate and is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the 177-bed facility.
Andrew Bogy, Whittier, joined Tustin Hospital and Medical Center as manager of cardiopulmonary services. Previously, he was a respiratory care practitioner at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center.
Richard Gates, M. D. was appointed medical director of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Heart Institute. He was previously a cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital. Gates will direct all programs and outreach services associated with pediatric cardiac care, including open heart surgery, neonatal heart surgery and fetal echocardiography.
The ARV Assisted Living Inc. board of trustees appointed Douglas Pasquale chairman of the company. Pasquale, 45, has been president and CEO of the Costa Mesa-based health care provider since March 1999. He joined ARV in June 1998.
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. named James Frey senior vice president of operations for the company’s health plans division. Frey, 32, was chief executive officer for the Santa Ana-based healthcare provider’s Nevada health plan. He will oversee the operations and customer service functions of the company’s commercial and Medicare+Choice product lines.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s corporate members elected Aidan Raney, M.D. to the hospital’s board of directors as a representative of the medical staff. Dr. Raney, of Laguna Beach, is the medical director of cardiovascular surgery at Hoag.
Cogent Healthcare Inc., Laguna Hills (formerly the Hospitalists), a provider of inpatient physician services named Patricia Flannery vice president of operations, Jeffrey Poole vice president of information technology and Ernest Cook Jr. chief medical officer. Flannery comes to Cogent from United Healthcare where she was director of Medicare programs. Poole joins the company from Specialty Laboratories Inc., where he was director of information systems. Cook joined Cogent in 1998 and was previously vice president of provider operations for the company.
Laguna Hills-based Perigon Medical Distribution Corp. named Mark S. Bloom corporate controller. He replaces Wayne Tyo, who will remain with the company as director of finance. Bloom comes to Perigon from Sun Healthcare Group, Albuquerque.
Scott St. Clair joined Beech Street Corp. as director of business development for Distribution Services. His primary focus will be to create ways for physicians to use the Internet to support their practices. St. Clair was previously vice president for North Star Marketing Corp.
INSURANCE
Timothy Matthews, CPCU joined Hobbs Group LLC as a senior vice president. He will oversee production and client services for the insurance provider’s office in Laguna Beach. He was previously senior vice president and senior client executive at J & H; Marsh & McLennan in Laguna Beach.
LAW
Stathi Marcopulos and Camellia Schuk have been named partners in the Irvine office of Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP. Marcopulos is involved in acquisition, deposition, lease development and financing of commercial and residential properties. Schuk specializes in real estate acquisitions and residential and resort developments.
Western State University College of Law appointed Maryann Jones dean of academic affairs. She has been a law professor at the university since 1989. Prior to joining Western State, she was an employment law specialist.
Elizabeth Rosebrock, Ed Batista and John Wilcoxson joined the Orange office of Brady, Vorwerck & Ryder. Rosebrock will focus on intellectual property, professional liability and casualty matters. Batista will handle construction defect matters and Wilcoxson will focus on construction defect and substantial casualty issues.
Richard Derevan, partner at the Irvine law firm of Snell & Wilmer LLP, was named president of the Public Law Center of Orange County and chair of the Orange County Bar Association’s Appellate Law Section for this year. The firm also appointed Jane Crewe and Janet L. Hurdle to the product liability group, and Marlene Klein an associate attorney focusing on intellectual property law regarding patents, trademarks and copyrights.
The board of directors of Ringer Associates elected Robert Blattenberg, of Newport Beach, president and CEO of the firm. Blattenberg, who joined the firm in 1983, was formerly CFO of the company.
The Costa Mesa office of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP added land-use attorney William R. Devine to its staff. He will work in the environment and land use and real estate practice sections of the firm. Devine was most recently with Paone Callahan McHolm & Winton LLP.
Randolf W. Katz joined the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP as partner in the Orange County office. He will practice in the areas of corporate finance, securities and transactions. He was formerly managing partner of the Orange County office of Arter & Hadden LLP.
MARKETING/PR
Kelly Mayfield was appointed marketing director for the LA Weekly and OC Weekly. Mayfield will be responsible for marketing, creative promotional materials, advertising and public relations projects for both newspapers.
Morgan Marketing & Public Relations hired Megan Hughie as an account coordinator. She is responsible for overall account coordination, news release copywriting, media research and special event coordination for the marketing and public relations firm.
