vice president – Xing Wu

University of Dayton Wins National Supplier Diversity Award: University of Dayton, Ohio

Mark A. Tomlin — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 14:05:21 +0000

The University of Dayton received the Jesse L. Moore Supplier 2022 Diversity Award, a national recognition from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine honoring colleges and universities that take proactive steps to support and engage with minority-owned businesses.

The publication selected the winners for their efforts in recruiting, hiring and retaining suppliers from underrepresented groups through institutional supplier diversity offices, innovative programs and other initiatives. Winners will be included in the April 2022 issue of OVERVIEW of diversity magazine.

“As a Catholic institution of higher learning, provider diversity is intrinsic to our mission to advance the common good,” said Eric F. Spina, president of the University of Dayton. “The University of Dayton has placed a high priority on expanding supplier diversity, identifying it as one of the key elements of the University in our efforts to support equity and inclusion on our campus. and in the community of Greater Dayton. We appreciate this award recognizing this work and our progress, and I am very grateful to Executive Director of Procurement, Sara Harrison, and her team for their leadership and hard work. »

OVERVIEW of diversity The magazine noted UD’s decade of involvement as an “engaged buying organization” with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Minority Business Partnership, an economic development initiative aimed at growing the local economy through greater engagement. strong with minority businesses in the region. For example, approximately 20% of the contractors in the construction of the University’s new 1401 S. Main building and the Roger Glass Center for the Arts currently under construction are minority or women-owned businesses.

In 2018, the University launched the Greater West Dayton Incubator. His work aligns with the University’s vendor goals and promotes support for underrepresented, underfunded, and underserved entrepreneurs in the Greater Dayton startup community.

On campus, the University strengthened its supplier diversity program with the launch of a centralized e-procurement system in 2017 that identified and introduced diverse suppliers. Other internal efforts included developing a purchasing advisory council, educating and training campus units and buyers, and building strong local relationships with higher education vendor diversity teams. .

The COVID-19 pandemic has also created opportunities for the University. UD found new supply chains from new suppliers, Harrison said, with diverse and small suppliers often proving to be the best partners in terms of reliability, cost, speed and agility. While many employees were working remotely at the start of the pandemic, the University held Zoom training and education sessions with employees on the importance of supplier diversity.

“Sourcing from minority-owned, women-owned and local businesses has allowed our diverse vendors to reach and help every person on campus with personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies,” said Harrison said. “Relationships established through outreach events have been leveraged and we have been delighted to form new strategic partnerships with various vendors.”

UD has a five-year goal to spend 20% of its annual purchases with minority and women-owned vendors by fiscal year 2025-26.

This is UD’s third award in less than a year recognizing its work in diversity, equity and inclusion. Diversity: issues in higher education highlighted Tiffany Taylor Smith, UD Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, among its 25 Outstanding Women for Women’s History Month. Last fall, UD was among a small group of schools honored nationally by OVERVIEW of diversity with a HEED (Higher Education Excellence in Diversity) award, which recognizes U.S. higher education institutions that demonstrate a notable commitment to campus-wide diversity and inclusion.

“When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, colleges and universities have traditionally invested their resources in recruiting and retaining diverse students and employees – however, there is a third stage of DEI which focuses on supplier diversity,” said Lenore Pearlstein, co-editor of OVERVIEW of diversity. “The OVERVIEW of diversity Jesse L. Moore Supplier Diversity Award, named in honor of longtime advocate and economic development pioneer Jesse L. Moore for his leadership in promoting supplier diversity and the success of minority-owned businesses, is our way to ensure that this critical area of DEI also gets recognized for the important role it plays.

OVERVIEW of diversity magazine is the oldest and largest publication focused on diversity in higher education.

Start of Cornish Presidency draws mixed reactions

Mark A. Tomlin — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 22:18:42 +0000

While many in the Ithaca College community are happy to have a president who knows the college well and can provide consistency, some are concerned about the transparency of the presidential search process.

Dave Lissy ’87, chairman of the Ithaca College board of trustees, announced March 7 that the board voted unanimously to appoint La Jerne Cornish as president. She had served as Acting President since August 2021 after President Shirley M. Collado resigned. Collado brought Cornish to the college in 2018 to serve as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. In the summer of 2021, Collado then promoted Cornish to provost and executive vice president. Collado then resigned from her position and served as an advisor to the board of directors and acting president and became president and chief executive officer of College career in January 2022.

While at the college, Cornish led the implementation of Ithaca Forever, the college’s five-year strategic plan, and she oversaw the start of the Academic Program Prioritization (APP) process, which is currently in its second phase. . The first phase resulted in the continued elimination of 116 full-time equivalent faculty positions and a number of departments, majors and programs. Both Cornish and Collado approved the “Shape of the College” document in February 2021, which provided the recommendations for cuts.

Dave Fleischer ’91, Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, discussed the committee’s timeline and process. The search is officially launched September 17, 2021when the board announced the creation of the Presidential Search Committee. The committee then joined forces with Isaacson, Milleran executive search firm to assist with presidential search.

In response to the decision to partner with an executive search firm, the vsmiddle Schoolit’s chapter of the American Association of University Teachers (AAUP) published a declaration expressing concern about the lack of transparency regarding the decision to use a recruitment company, the fact that the board and the recruitment committee rejected the AAUP’s Call for Shared Governance and that the search has not been declared open or closed. The Presidential Search Committee and Board of Directors never disclosed whether the search was open or closed.

Fleischer said Isaacson, Miller conducted outreach with approximately 300 potential candidates, and the committee conducted comprehensive interviews with 10 semi-finalists.

“Each candidate received serious and thorough consideration,” Fleischer said. “In the final analysis, Dr. Cornish has risen above the rest. Her professional experience, leadership skills, personal qualities and proven track record of persevering through difficult times have elevated her above the rest. highly accomplished candidates.

On March 9, the IC AAUP published a declaration welcoming Cornish as president but expressing concern about the lack of transparency regarding the presidential search process.

“When the Board or senior management engages with other interest groups, they do so primarily on their own, largely monological terms: in lengthy presentations that leave no time for a meaningful discussion; in small meetings and listening sessions for which there is little or no follow-up; and in surveys and questionnaires that produce results typically shared directly with only a small number of employees,” AAUP said in the release.

Thomas Pfaff, a professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, criticized the administration for conducting reluctant presidential research during a March 8 Faculty Council meeting.

“We didn’t know anything about it,” Pfaff said in a March 9 interview. “The research was completely secret. During the search for President Collado… some campus voters were able to interact with potential presidential candidates. Now there has been a complete lockdown. The President’s Search Committee was set up and we really didn’t hear anything until the announcement. … That seems problematic to me.

After former president Tom Rochon resigned in 2017, the college announced that the presidential search would be open and would include town hall meetings with the candidates. However, Ithaca College’s Presidential Search Committee later announced that final candidates would not be brought to campus for public meetings. Collado was then named the ninth president.

Dan Breen, president of the IC AAUP, expressed his disappointment with the inconsistent communication that took place during the presidential search.

“The most important question – whether the search would be open or closed – has never been answered publicly,” Breen said.

During the March 7 presentation, Lissy explained that he believed Cornish was the right candidate at the right time.

“She’s as clear-headed about the challenges this place faces as she’s excited about the many opportunities we have to reach our full potential,” Lissy said.

Cornish said she intends to continue directing with the Ithaca forever plan. The plan was launched in October 2019 and is now in the third year of his five years. Cornish said once the two years are up, the college will create another strategic plan.

“It’s going to take us three to five years to recover from what happened because of the pandemic,” Cornish said. “It will take us three to five years to restore our reputation as a world-class comprehensive college, rooted and grounded in the liberal arts tradition, with incredible professional schools. And then it will take us another three to five years to soar. Because we will soar.

Senior Letícia Guibunda, Vice President of campus affairs for the Student Governance Council and a member of the Presidential Search Committee, said the university and the world had undergone many changes during her time as a student, requiring students to seek and set new standards for themselves.

“I am really happy that IC now has President Cornish as the next leader of the institution. because she really recognizes and cares about all the things students have had to deal with over the years,” Guibunda said. “She really showed serious intent in wanting to make this school a place where everyone can sincerely feel and have a sense of belonging and a sense of community.”

At the March 7 SGC meeting, board members expressed their delight at Cornish’s appointment.

“I think it’s the right decision given that she’s been here for four or five years now, so she has a good understanding of the challenges facing the institution,” said Carlos Abreu, vice president of business. academics of the SGC, mentioned.

Sophomore James Zampetti, vice president of communications for the SGC, said Cornish attended an event in the fall of 2021 for students to talk about their mental health just to listen to students.

“She doesn’t just talk about taking care of the students, she goes out of her way to show and act on her commitment,” Zampetti said. “I’m really excited to be working with her over the next two years and she’s a perfect fit for the role.”

Chris McNamara ’81, Clinical Associate Professor, Clinical Director in the Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty Council Executive Committee vshair and a member of the presidential search committee, pledged to work with Cornish to reshape the college.

“We look forward, under your guidance and leadership, President Cornish, to the next best chapter of Ithaca College,” McNamara said.

In a March 7 LinkedIn positionCollado expressed his enthusiasm for Cornish in the new position.

“This is a historic day for Ithaca College as our legacy work continues with my sister president, Dr. La Jerne Cornish, who boldly leads the college into the future,” Collado said in the post. “My heart is full and I’m so proud of La Jerne and IC.”

College Track said Collado was traveling and could not be reached for comment.

Reactions to Cornish’s appointment on social media have been mixed.

“Here we go again!” Eric Rieseberg said in a college comment Facebook. “God keep us! Last nails in the IC coffin. The trustees have just missed the last opportunity to wipe the slate clean. They effectively ignored their feedback loops and graduate questionnaires. I’m totally done with them!

“Very exciting I wish her a happy and productive six months in the office before the students find a reason for her to be forcibly expelled!” user @butterscannon said in a college comment instagram.

“Congratulations Dr. Cornish and congratulations to @IthacaCollege on your amazing new president! ,” user @ErikaGSwain said in response to the college tweet.

“Sounds like a wonderful choice to lead IC! Steven Weiss said in a college comment Facebook.

Pfaff said he didn’t see much enthusiasm within the university community. He said much of the low morale on campus was directly linked to initiatives Cornish was involved in, such as the APP.

“How did she get us away from this?” Pfaff asked. “Other than just…saying, ‘Well, we’re going to follow the Ithaca Forever,’ where somebody from the outside who kind of comes in gets the benefit of the doubt, ‘Well, this new person, maybe that they’re going to change the direction, maybe things will get better. I think where we’re at right now is this issue of connecting with what happened and whether people have the impression that she can change it or not.

Associate Editors Olivia Stanzl and Lorien Tyne contributed reporting for this story.

The Nashville Ledger

Mark A. Tomlin — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 13:28:41 +0000

FLIGHT. 46 | NO. 9 | Friday, March 4, 2022

The law firm Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC brought Mr. Clark Spoden into the firm as a partner in the litigation department of the firm.

His practice focuses on representing companies in matters of contracts, employment, environment, administrative law, construction, commercial liability, non-competition, intellectual property, wrongful death and bodily injuries.

Clark is an administrative law judge for the Nashville Electric Service. He has taught remedies at the Nashville School of Law since 2003 and civil procedure since 2019. In addition, Clark frequently lectures on trial practice and employment law.

Clark was previously a partner at Burr & Forman LLP. He graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee Law School.

Baker Donelson adds Ray as attorney

Attorney Lindsay Ray has joined Baker Donelson as a member of the firm’s Government Investigation and Enforcement Group.

Ray represents clients in litigation, with a focus on white-collar defense, complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, labor and employment disputes, and government investigations.

Additionally, Ray has devoted considerable time to pro bono cases, including successfully negotiating a settlement on behalf of an artist regarding the misuse of his copyrighted photographs and other works. . She also represented a New York City Department of Corrections and Community Supervision inmate in his 1983 section prisoner rights case involving Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment violations caused by his four and a half years in solitary confinement.

A graduate of Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Ray is a member of the McInerny Inn of Court Association of New York County Lawyers.

FINN Partners Hires 7 People for Nashville Office

FINN Partners has added seven senior PR and marketing experts to its growing Southeast team. They are:

Joseph Harkins, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, who brings over 25 years of marketing, advertising and communications experience. His extensive experience includes senior positions in global agencies and large independent agencies and representing clients in manufacturing, banking, education and building products.

Valerie Beesley, Vice President, Healthcare, who has over 15 years of PR agency experience in the healthcare, nonprofit and technology industries. She began her career in healthcare and pharmaceutical communications representing clients such as GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly. She earned a master’s degree in public relations from Syracuse University.

Christina Chu, Vice President, Health, who has nearly two decades of PR and marketing experience for agencies and in-house and has worked with several notable health brands, such as Atrium Health , and boutique organizations such as Sister to Sister: Everyone Has a Heart Foundation.

Amanda Gilchrist, Vice President, Community Impact, whose public relations experience spans over 20 years in government and corporate communications.

Nate West, Vice President, Health, who brings more than a decade of public relations experience and specializes in integrating health and environmental communications. He previously led communications for the Tennessee Wildlife Federation and is a member of Nashville’s Emerging Leaders Class of 2022.

Benjamin Zhang, Vice President, Business and Consumer, who leads national and international customer campaigns for major transportation brands. Prior to joining FINN, he was a member of the corporate communications team at Mercedes-Benz USA. He received his Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School.

Kimberly Nichols, Account Director, Integrated Marketing, who brings over 25 years of experience orchestrating, facilitating and driving integrated omnichannel marketing programs for clients in a myriad of industries.

LP Building Solutions appoints Mason EVP

LP Building Solutions has named Jimmy Mason executive vice president, general manager of OSB.

Mason succeeds Jason Ringblom, who was recently named executive vice president, general manager of coatings.

Mason brings more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing operations to this position. He joined LP in 2006, most recently serving as Vice President, Siding Manufacturing, where he was instrumental in leading the siding business’s exceptional safety performance, strong overall efficiency results equipment and conversions from LP Dawson Creek and LP Houlton to siding mills. . Previously, he served as Regional Operations Manager and Regional Coating Operations Manager, as well as Plant Operations Superintendent at LP Roxboro and LP Roaring River, and Plant Manager at LP Roaring River.

Mason earned a degree in business administration with a professional option in operations management from Auburn University.

Meharry welcomes Woods as senior vice president

Meharry Medical College has named Walter D. Woods Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement. Woods will provide comprehensive advancement and development initiatives, efforts to innovate with the healthcare sector, and further develop the college’s strategic community initiatives.

Woods most recently served as the Humana Foundation’s Strategic Advisor, advising on operational, policy, and programmatic issues critical to advancing the foundation’s mission. He also served the American Association of Retired Persons, the American Gas Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.

Woods holds a business administration degree in finance from Howard University, an MBA in marketing, management economics, and decision sciences from Northwestern University, and participated in an executive education program for nonprofit leaders at Stanford University.

Mayor Cooper announces changes to senior staff

Mayor John Cooper has appointed Sam Wilcox as Deputy Mayor for Policy and Innovation and Jennifer Rasmussen-Sagan as Chief of Staff.

Bill Phillips, who has served as deputy mayor and chief of staff since 2020, will continue with the Cooper administration on a part-time basis as special adviser to the mayor.

Wilcox — who joins the administration Feb. 28 — will lead the mayor’s policy, communications and special projects teams to advance Mayor Cooper’s priorities of affordable housing, transportation, education, community safety and of durability.

Wilcox joins the Cooper administration from DA Davidson, where he served as vice president of technology investment banking. Prior to that, he was a partner in a family investment office and a business analyst at Oak Street Health.

Wilcox is a Harry S. Truman Scholar, an Auburn University alumnus, and a native of Middle Tennessee.

Rasmussen-Sagan — having served as Senior Assistant to Mayor Cooper since 2020 — will lead day-to-day operations in the Mayor’s Office and manage the Mayor’s staff.

She was previously director of marketing, brand management and public relations for D&JR Holdings and before that, deputy chief of staff to then-mayor Mike Fahey of Omaha, Nebraska. She has consulted, managed or worked for more than 10 campaigns for community, municipal and federal candidates.

She is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska.

Connico appoints president and expands 2 management positions

Connico, a national construction consultancy firm, today announced that it has appointed long-serving senior team member Sri Kumar as majority owner and chairman.

Kumar joined Connico in 2011. Since then he has risen through the management ranks to become a member of the management team and most recently held the position of Senior Project Specialist. Sri is also known for his leadership in the industry and sits on the board of the Airport Consultants Council. He is also president of the Northern Kentucky Chapter of the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers.

Connico also announced that David Hunley would expand his role from vice president to chief development officer. Bryan Hafertepe has also joined the ownership team as COO and will lead Connico’s recruitment and retention initiatives.

Hunley has been with Connico since 1992 and has 39 years of experience in cost estimating, planning, construction supervision and administration, resident project representation, design support and fee review. ‘engineering.

Hafertepe is a licensed professional engineer. He focuses on assisting in the development of cost estimates, value integration, project management and construction observation, and has worked on projects at nearly 55 airports over the past five years. .

Hafertepe will also lead the company’s retention and recruiting efforts, including training and mentoring.

Nashville CARES announces 2 hires

Nashville CARES has hired Dakerri Rhone as Community Engagement and Volunteer Manager and Karen Gregg as Special Events and Strategic Partnerships Coordinator.

For the past several years, Rhone has coordinated volunteers and empowered Nashvillians to serve citywide while serving on the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, Nashville Pride, the Tennessee Equality Project, and as a founder. of the STAND Movement.

Gregg is a recent transplant from Pennsylvania and has 10 years of experience in the nonprofit world. She has coordinated and organized nearly 400 annual events.

Economic recovery still needs political support

Mark A. Tomlin — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 03:06:44 +0000

The second advance estimate (2AE) of GDP, released on Monday, forecast real growth for FY22 of 8.9%, compared to 9.2% in the first advance estimate released in January. However, the momentum of the recovery and of activity is best judged by quarterly growth (since this is of more immediate importance).

Real gross value added (GVA) growth in the October-December quarter of FY22 was 4.7% (compared to 2.1% in the corresponding quarter of FY21). GDP growth was a little better at 5.4%. This growth was only marginally higher than the average growth of 3.7% in the four quarters of FY20, prior to the pandemic-related lockdown. What does this say about the momentum of economic recovery? Given the high volatility in quarterly growth rates over the past two years, these need to be examined carefully to separate the base effect from the underlying growth.

The two sectors that contributed the most to overall growth were manufacturing (0.2%) and construction (-2.8%). Even taking into account the base effects of fairly high growth rates in the corresponding quarter of FY21, the weakness is visible. The near-zero growth in the manufacturing sector is somewhat surprising, given the 27% growth in merchandise exports (in US dollars) during the quarter, indicating weak domestic demand (although some segments are doing well). good). Note that the growth in the IIP (industrial production index) during the quarter was 1.2% and the equivalent of the GVA derived from the financial results of manufacturing companies (deflated by WPI inflation) increased was contracted by 3%. Equally concerning is the construction segment, where a similar match in numbers suggests significant weakness, particularly in the MSME segment. This is partly explained by the weak growth in electricity production (3.7%).

On the other hand, some service segments recorded relatively strong growth. The most striking is “Public administration and other services”, which includes education, health, recreation, etc. and is the universe of micro and small local service enterprises; this segment grew by nearly 17% (and contributed just under half of the overall 4.7% growth in GVA).

Even on the demand side of economic activity, the trends are concerning. While private consumption grew by a healthy 7%, investment in fixed assets only increased by 2% in the third quarter (after a contraction of 0.6% in the third quarter of FY21). This is despite a 13% increase in Center capital spending in the third quarter (and smaller state capital spending). The obvious conclusion is that private sector investment spending has remained weak. Moreover, given that government consumer spending grew by only 3.4%, which matches the growth of “public administration” above, suggests that other service businesses have recovered strongly. in the third quarter, with the opening of economic activity.

In nominal terms, GVA and GDP growth in the third quarter had been 15.6%. This is important because it is a signal of the distribution of consumption between household income classes. For the full FY22, nominal GVA is expected to be Rs 236 lakh crore, up from Rs 201 lakh crore in the pre-pandemic FY20, an increase of Rs 35 lakh crore over two years. It’s quite substantial. In addition to private sector studies and surveys of rising inequality, exploration of corporate financial results shows that operating profit margins for the business-to-business (B2B) subset have increased more than those for the business-to-business (B2B) subset ( B2C), suggesting that the ability of end-consumers faced with businesses to pass on high input costs has been limited. This has implications for the redistributive actions of economic policy, particularly fiscal.

What about the future? Regarding growth in the fourth quarter of FY22, the Axis Bank Composite Leading Index, based on a set of 39 simultaneous and immediate indicators, suggests that economic activity in February has almost reached December levels (and that March activity is generally seasonally strong). Yet the path to growth and recovery for FY23 has become muddied by a host of economic, business, financial, and now geoeconomic events. The release of official data implies GDP growth in the fourth quarter of FY22 is expected to be slower (4.8%) and GVA at just 4.1%; FY22 total growth is likely to be even lower than the 8.9% currently forecast, given a likely impact on exports in March. Additionally, RBI, with its sophisticated forecasting capabilities, expects FY23 growth to be 7.8% (lower than the 8.0-8.5% predicted by the Economic Survey and 9.0% by the IMF).

Even assuming the Ukraine crisis subsides gradually, other ongoing political actions around the world are likely to unfold over a period of months or even years. India’s external environment is expected to be less benign than in FY22, and financial markets are expected to remain volatile. As the world emerges from the pandemic and extraordinary stimulus package, many G-10 central banks, struggling with persistently high inflation, are reversing their accommodative monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve is expected to tighten monetary policy aggressively, raise key rates at its March 2022 meeting, and then begin to extract the huge infusion of liquidity during the pandemic period.

Global growth is also slowing. The IMF, in its January update of the World Economic Outlook, had projected that global GDP growth would slow from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022. The slowdown in the Chinese economy is expected to contribute to this slowdown, but the major developed markets are also decelerating. As logistical bottlenecks for global trade ease, the nature of demand is also likely to shift from consumer goods to travel, tourism, leisure, and more. , mainly driven by a decline in emerging markets. Merchandise exports are unlikely to be as strong a driver of growth in FY23, although services exports are expected to pick up.

Domestic headwinds from inflation risks and fiscal constraints will require skillful management of further stimulus to ensure that, even as the recovery becomes broad-based and more durable, the economy does not overheat. The role of credit and financial resources for businesses and retail borrowers has become crucial, especially for MSMEs. Bank lending resumed in November and December, but until mid-February remained fairly robust. The same goes for NBFC levies, at least for the larger ones. This is partly a diversion from corporate bonds and commercial paper, given the rise in interest rates, but demand for basic credit (working capital and investment loans) seems to have improved.

In short, overall economic activity is recovering at a modest pace, but many sectors and segments still appear to be constrained by weak demand and will require continued policy support. The role of fiscal and trade policy will be dominant, but monetary policy will continue to play a crucial role in maintaining stable financial markets to reduce at least one component of uncertainty.

This column first appeared in the print edition of March 2, 2022 under the title “Support the recovery”. The author is Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Axis Bank. Views are personal

Hirings and promotions SC | Business

Mark A. Tomlin — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Architecture

Tammy Griffin joined Architecture Liollio as an administrative assistant. She has 19 years of experience as a paralegal.

Banking

Blake Dressler was promoted to president of the Charleston market at First trusted bank. Previously, he was senior vice president and senior commercial lender. He has over 13 years of experience in the banking sector. He holds a bachelor’s degree from University of South Carolina.

Consultant

misty antonacci was promoted to consultant at Knowledge Capital Group. Previously, she was a project coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in women’s and gender studies from the University Charleston College.

Education

Stacy Gregg joined South Carolina State University as Purchasing Manager. She has approximately 26 years of experience in public procurement. Previously, she was responsible for purchasing at University of South Carolina. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management and English from the University of South Carolina.

Territory Development

William O’Neal was promoted to vice president of SeamonWhiteside. He is based out of the Mount Pleasant office. He is a civil engineering team leader and has been with the company for 16 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Clemson University

Law

Philippe Mullinnix was named partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. He is based in the Charleston office and focuses his practice on health care. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and government from Furman Universitya master’s degree in history Clemson University and a law degree University of South Carolina School of Law.

Non-profit

Robin Harget joined the Urban Land Instituteof the South Carolina District Council as Executive Director. She has over 20 years of experience in the residential development industry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in visual media from The American University.

Pharmaceutical

Tobin Cowart joined Alcami Corp.. as Senior Director of Technical Services. He is based in North Charleston. Previously, he was Director of Technical Services at Exela Pharma Services LLC. He has over 28 years of experience in the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical products.

Immovable

Bryan Jenerette joined Agent-owned real estate as an agent based at the North Main Street office in Summerville. He holds an associate degree in wildlife and forestry from Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

Jennifer Coalson, Lakisha Kershaw and Sandra Caceres Miller we’re joining Caroline One Real Estate as sellers. They are based at the Trolley Road office in Summerville.

Hearts of Gold Gala, Grand Opening of LSC-K for Fire Training Center

Mark A. Tomlin — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 18:09:21 +0000

Suburb // Humble/Kingwood

David Taylor, Personal editor

February 12, 2022

Two organizations in the Lake Houston area held significant events in the life of their organizations. FamilyTime has been a staple in the Humble region for years and they recently hosted their annual Hearts of Gold Gala.

Lone Star College’s Kingwood campus also held a special grand opening for its new Fire Academy. With good weather and progress, facilities should be complete by the end of summer in time for fall classes.

Successful Women 2021

Giving, inspiring, helping are all traits of some of the women who were honored at the 29th Annual Hearts of Gold Gala celebrating their 2021 Women of Achievement. The ladies came from all walks of life and walks of life and were thanked for service to the community.

Inauguration of the LSC-Kingwood fire installation

Lone Star College-Kingwood held a groundbreaking ceremony for its future fire training center on February 11. The new building, which is expected to be completed in August 2022, will house all the necessary equipment for students to undergo fire drills and learn other essential skills needed to become certified firefighters in Texas. The college will be the second on the east side to have dedicated firefighting facilities. Houston Community College-Northeast has a fire academy at its I-10 and Loop 610 location.

[email protected]

Beloved psychology professor Sarina Saturn leaves UP

Mark A. Tomlin — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 06:14:59 +0000

Few people can say they are more connected to The Bluff than Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Sarina Saturn.

His parents – both UP alumni – met through the UP International Club, and Saturn grew up in University Park, making regular visits to campus. Years later, she found herself at UP as a teacher, and over the past seven years she has been involved with many clubs, groups, and steering committees.

“It has been a true honor to provide intersectional emotional care and to recognize how much people here on campus, especially students, need more spaces where they feel welcome and affirmed, and they can provide a treatment and a cure,” Saturn said. “And so it’s been really rewarding.”

Despite this, Saturn never felt like she fully belonged in UP, which is why her decision to leave UP at the end of January was so difficult for her.

“I think the only reason I’ve touched the students so much is because I’ve seen how harmful it can be to walk into an environment where you feel out of place,” Saturn said.

Saturn reports that she often felt ignored when raising diversity, inclusion and mental health issues with the administration.

This decision came with strong emotions – be it grief, love, anger, release or anything in between.

Theology professor Simon Aihiokhai, who became acquainted with Saturn when he served on the Presidential Advisory Committee for Inclusion and the Ethnic Studies Research Committee, believes Saturn has changed the landscape of the University forever. , helping to make it a more diverse, welcoming and inclusive place.

“They may not know her name, but the legacy will always remember her,” Aihiokhai said. “She was one of those agents who brought about social transformation in this university.”

“She called on the University, especially the College of Arts and Sciences, to take diversity training seriously in hiring faculty members,” Aihiokhai added. “…It has yielded a lot of positive fruits in less than two years since the beginning. We have hired a good number of diverse teachers, which would never have been the case before.

When Saturn started as a professor at UP in 2015, she didn’t expect to do so much advocacy work, but she quickly realized that her unique connection to The Bluff, her experiences as a woman of color, and her emotional psychology training allowed him to quickly connect and empathize with many students.

“I grew up in this culture and I know why students were suffering,” Saturn said. “I knew exactly what needed to change in order to provide more advocacy, affirmation and healing. And so it’s been amazing, I think it’s probably the highlight of my career doing this work with students.

Saturn grew up a few blocks from campus.

This desire to make UP more equitable and inclusive clearly resonated with the students she worked with, as she quickly connected with many QTBIPOC and feminist students, faculty and staff.

Saturn played many roles for the students she worked closely with: teacher, counselor, friend, mentor and, when needed, a shoulder to cry on.

“Even though she’s older and wiser than all of us, she never puts you down or makes you feel stupid or anything like that,” said Kristen Kaliban, co-chair of Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA). “She’s so collaborative, and I really always liked and appreciated that about her because that’s not always the case, especially with clubs that deal with more sensitive topics.”

When Active Minds president Kaylee Menefee joined the club’s board of directors last year, she had an idea: “You’re going to love this, especially because Dr. Saturn is now your best friend.

“And it really is, honestly,” Menefee said.

One of the main reasons Saturn was able to have such an impact was its ability to connect different areas of campus with each other.

“The great thing about working with (Saturn) on one thing is that she’s working on so many things at once and every time she starts something new she’s like, ‘Do you want to be involved in this?'” Menefee said.

“She is only the official advisor to two clubs on campus, but she is unofficially the advisor to all of the diversity clubs,” Menefee continued. “She’s where everyone goes when they need help with a finance application or booking a room, really anything.”

Active Minds President Kaylee Menefee speaks to students gathered at the Intersectional Justice Expo.

As a colleague, Saturn’s zeal and passion rubbed off on those she worked with.

“I’m different because of my work with Sarina,” said associate professor of philosophy Alejandro Santana. “I hope I had the same effect on her that way. I am a better person. I am a much more thoughtful person.

“I consider her a very respectable colleague, a sincere and genuine person to make a difference, no matter how hard these transformative differences demand of us, because it’s not easy,” Aihiokhai added.

Saturn’s decision to leave UP stemmed from her realization that when she returned from the upcoming gap semester, it would not be in an environment where she felt respected and recognized, Saturn said.

Saturn, who earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University, has done postdoctoral work at Columbia University, Stanford University and University of California – Berkeley. His specialty is the neuroscience of emotions, and his to research has been featured in publications such as New York Times, National Public Broadcasting (NPR) Science Friday and American scientific mind.

One of Saturn’s biggest disappointments at UP was that her offers to teach classes in the neuroscience minor were met with resistance, she said.

Another discouraging setback was the flooding of Buckley’s basement which destroyed his research on intergenerational trauma, healing, and post-traumatic growth. Because Buckley’s basement has a history of flooding, Saturn was dismayed that the University had not taken steps to mitigate the problem.

Saturn also pointed to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work on campus, which often fell to faculty, staff, and students without the full support of administration, he said. she declared.

“It’s just like this uphill battle,” Saturn said. “And I’m honestly so exhausted from pushing those rocks up.”

Saturn is one of many female faculty and staff to leave the institution in the past year, including several women of color.

“It’s a unique case, but at the same time it seems to speak to a pattern at UP of strong women in positions, whether they’re staff, faculty, or administration, and then they leave because they’re so fed up with how they’re being treated,” Santana said.

“Not feeling like you’re not valued that way hurts,” Santana added. “It’s understandable that people don’t want to be here anymore. So I really think it’s important for all of us to think about it very carefully and very deeply.

Acting university president and provost Herbert Medina declined to comment on Saturn’s departure, according to an email from vice president of marketing and communications Michael Lewellen.

“Unfortunately, it is not customary for a university president or provost to comment on departures of employees who are not retirements, nor on departures precipitated by moves to leadership positions in other other institutions,” Lewellen said in his email.

Simon Aihiokhai worries about how Saturn’s big shoes will fill.

Because Saturn, with his knowledge of UP, his personal relationships with students, and his background in the psychology of emotions, was uniquely positioned to help foster change on campus, Aihiokhai worries about who will occupy the Vacancy.

“Who’s going to continue all these things she’s done?” Aihiokhai said. “It’s like someone just died in front of you, that’s how I felt about (his leaving).”

Senior Isaiah Saluta believes Saturn’s legacy in forging connections between different corners of UP working to create DEI change will be picked up and continued by students.

“I hope the students know that just because she’s leaving doesn’t mean there won’t be a change,” Saluta said. “Students will continue to fill this void and students will continue to build community and create networks of opportunity so that we can all uplift each other.”

“Let’s hope so,” Santana said. “There’s a huge amount of inertia here and so it really takes somebody pushing, moving, cajoling, dragging, encouraging, I mean everything, all at the same time to reverse that inertia. And so the task now lies everyone to help pick up the slack in this way. It’s a really big loss.”

Students gather on the Academic Quad for an exhibition and celebration of intersectional justice.

On January 28, approximately 30 students, faculty and staff gathered in the academic quad to celebrate Saturn and the progress she has cultivated during her time at UP, in addition to reaffirming that – even with the departure of Saturn – the work and progress will not stop with her.

Although Saturn isn’t sure what’s next, she’s eager to catch up on rest, relaxation, and recuperation.

Despite everything Saturn had to go through, her time here was worth it, she said. She hopes her actions and work at UP have helped shape and strengthen the progress of the institution where her parents met.

“I have no regrets,” Saturn said. “It was completely worth it. It was a fight for love and I think we have made great progress here. I hope people realize that the fire can continue to burn.

William Seekamp is the editor and managing editor of The Beacon. He can be reached at [email protected].

News desk | ILLINOIS

Mark A. Tomlin — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:14:31 +0000

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Five professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. Since an in-person celebration was not possible a year ago due to COVID-19 precautions, a gathering in honor of two years of Urbana campus scholars is taking place today . The award is given by the University of Illinois system to faculty members of the universities of Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana.

The group of university scholars announced a year ago to include five from the Urbana campus.

Launched in 1985, the Scholars Program recognizes excellence in faculty and provides $15,000 to each Scholars for each of three years to enhance their academic career. Money can be used for travel, equipment, research assistants, books, or other purposes.

“A diverse contingent of world-class faculty is critical to maintaining the University of Illinois’ preeminent position as a leader in public education,” said Avijit Ghosh, interim executive vice president and vice president. of Academic Affairs of the University of Illinois System. “This select group of educators has demonstrated exceptional excellence in teaching, research and scholarship. Each deserves recognition from scholars for their outstanding efforts in extending the University of Illinois’ mission to provide an education accessible to all students and to drive innovation to lead the state, nation, and world. world into the future.

The five Urbana campus recipients recently announced:

Francina Dominguez

Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

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