Camp Fire First Texas names next leader
Ann Sheets, longtime executive at Camp Fire First Texas, has been named the nonprofit’s next president and chief executive officer, effective July 1.
Sheets will replace current President/CEO Zem Neill, who is retiring from the organization after 37 years of service. Sheets has been with the organization since 1977 and is currently serving as the senior vice president of administration and finance.
“We were thrilled to receive a recommendation from our search committee stating Ann as the leading contender,” said Lauri Hadobas, chairman of the board of directors for Camp Fire First Texas. “Ann has a passion for Camp Fire that cannot be rivaled. She has both the skillset and the heart to qualify her for such a prestigious position.”
As president/CEO, Sheets will lead one of the largest and most active Camp Fire councils in the nation. Camp Fire First Texas provides services to youth and adults in small group programs, outdoor education and camping, and professional development training for child care providers.
Sheets completed a three-year term as national president of the American Camp Association in 2008. She previously served as national treasurer and as a board member for ACA and the American Camping Foundation, in addition to two terms as the Texas Section president and most recently was the board development chairman for ACA.
Sheets was named the 2012 CFO of the Year-Nonprofit by the Fort Worth Business Press and she was recognized as the Distinguished Alumna from Aurora University/George Williams College in 2007.
Boards & Organizations
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Iris Moore of Fort Worth to the State Preservation Board for a term to expire on Feb. 1, 2017. Moore, an active community volunteer, has served on the board of Cook Children’s Hospital and as co-chairman of the Fort Worth Zoo’s annual Zoo Ball fundraiser. She also served on the advisory council of the University of Texas School of
Communications.
Construction & Engineering
Freese and Nichols Inc. hired Joseph (Joe) Waring as a project manager for the Southeast Texas Transportation Group, which is based in the firm’s Pearland office. With nearly 30 years of experience, Waring specializes in roadway, stormwater, bridge and interchange design. Most recently, he was a transportation engineer at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), where he has worked in various positions since 1987. While at TxDOT, Waring provided construction management over numerous major projects, including the IH 45 bypass interchange and the NASA Road 1 bypass, which together totaled $96 million
Education
Darren White has been named associate vice president of marketing and communications at Texas Wesleyan University. White will continue to lead the day-to-day marketing operations as well as work on cross-departmental initiatives with admissions, academics, advancement, student life and other on-campus departments. White is currently completing his MBA at Texas Wesleyan. Before entering higher education, he was managing editor at Parker County Today magazine and a freelance journalist.
The University of Texas at Arlington appointed Paul Wong, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University, as the incoming dean of the UT Arlington College of Liberal Arts, effective July 1.
Wong also is director of international partnerships at SDSU, a professor of sociology and oversees the Social Science Research Laboratory and the Charles Hostler Institute for World Affairs.
Wong joined San Diego State University in 2003. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a visiting post-doctoral fellow in economics at Berkeley in 1979. He has had academic appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, U.C. San Diego, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Arizona State University and Washington State University, including as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.
Wong was associate provost at Colorado State University; dean of Social Sciences at Hong Kong Baptist University; and from 1999 to 2003, served as the dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, where he also established and directed the Center for Arab American Studies.
He has published extensively on comparative racial and ethnic issues, Chinese studies, substance abuse, community and mental health, education, poverty and welfare, community studies, policy analysis, and mathematical/statistical applications in the social sciences.
Honors & Awards
Cindy C. Burlin, elementary music teacher at Fort Worth Independent School District’s Tanglewood Elementary School, has been selected as the 2015-2016 Bayard H. Friedman Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts. The chair carries the title for one year and receives a $5,000 honorarium.
Real Estate
New hires at Northern Realty Group are Kellie Huffman, Lisa Mosier Logan, Chris Leito and Valarie Cuozzo, all members of the local, state and national associations for Realtors. Additionally, Jennifer Robinson joined the firm to assist with office management and training. Huffman has seven years of experience in real estate, working closely with a top agent in the area. She and her husband Will—who is also a Realtor with the company—work as a team to assist clients to become new home owners. Previously, Logan worked as the senior manager of corporate communications for Pier 1 Imports and the manager of public relations at the Bombay Company. Most recently, Logan was the managing editor for the Fort Worth Business Press. Leito previously was the banquet and catering manager at Los Vaqueros Restaurant in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Cuozzo has worked in the local real estate market since 2013. She has more than 20 years of experience as a legal assistant at a real estate-focused law firm and previously had a real estate license in Michigan. Robinson has experience in the real estate industry as a social media manager and client coordinator. Currently, she is taking classes to obtain her real estate license.
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