Thumbs Up, ‘Hands Down’ for New Merage School Dean

Eric Spangenberg must be feeling plenty flattered over the recruiting job done by UCI to land him as dean for its Paul Merage School of Business. Word has it that Spangenberg was the “hands down” choice from a field of candidates that included deans of bigger and better-known business schools—and Paul Merage himself helped lure him from Washington State. Another big UCI backer who pitched in: Don Beall. Yet another, Chuck Martin, says he has big expectations based on Spangenberg’s record of raising $70 million up on the Palouse, where he turned Washington State’s business school into an innovative leader in online MBA education. Just think what he might do once he settles in at a campus that’s smack-dab in the middle of OC’s community of business—and just a stone’s throw from the beach … Full Circle: Tribune Publishing, soon to be spun off as the owner of the L.A. Times and seven other daily newspapers, finished up its own recent recruiting push with one of the more interesting hires when it comes to Southern California’s newspaper landscape. Its new CEO is Jack Griffin, a veteran media exec who has a bone to pick with Aaron Kushner, now owner of the Orange County Register. Griffin names Kushner in a lawsuit in New York that claims more than $13 million in damages. He contends Kushner touted him as a key adviser to get the door open for his successful bid for the Register in 2012—and later reneged on payments due and a promise of a director’s position, among others. Kushner has been busy lately buying and selling some newspapers, shifting the frequencies of others, and consolidating Spanish-language weeklies in OC and the Inland Empire (see related story, this page). He’s also laying plans for a new publication in Los Angeles, where he’ll now find himself heads-up against the biggest newspaper in Griffin’s new portfolio … Going Up: the bar on frills for luxury homes, with elevators the latest trend, according to the March 7 edition of the Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section, which featured two Orange County homes as part of the trend. One of them—ID’d only as a place in Dana Point—won honors as residential project of the year in Elevator World magazine … CNBC’s Jim Cramer caught up with Anaheim-based Questcor Pharmaceuticals last week, calling it “the ultimate cross-fire stock.” The distinction stems from a host of shorts who work the Web to produce periodic hits on Questcor—a condition CEO Don Bailey managed to navigate well enough to pick up this publication’s most recent Business Person of the Year honors for the healthcare industry. Looks like Bailey’s still good for the ride despite the shorts: Questcor is closing in on a $4 billion market cap, with its shares up more than 100% over the past 12 months and by about 18% so far this year … The Orange County Museum of Art’s 2014 cocktail reception and art auction will feature works by Peter Alexander, Karl Haendel, Rachel Lachowicz and Ed Moses, among others. Bidding is set to start at 6:30 p.m. on March 14. Previews of the pieces are available to visitors between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on March 12 and 13. Laurén and Trace Chalmers host; Andrea Fiuczynski, chairman of Sotheby’s West Coast, has signed on as guest auctioneer.