Newsmakers: New UT Arlington dean for engineering

Boards & Organizations

Texas Health Resources CEO Barclay E. Berdan is the new chairman of the United Way of Tarrant County campaign for 2016-2017. As chairman, Berdan will lead volunteer efforts at hundreds of Tarrant County workplaces to raise funds to support the health and human service work of United Way and its partner agencies. Berdan, who joined Texas Health in 1986 and became the network’s chief in September 2014, also chairs the American Heart Association Tarrant County Chapter and serves on the steering committee of the Fort Worth Blue Zones Project.

Kevin Buehler, – the retired CEO of Alcon Laboratories Inc., is United Way’s new board chairman. He takes the reins from Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command Financial Services Inc., who remains on the board as immediate past board chairman. Buehler led the 2015-2016 United Way campaign.

Other board members and officers elected for 2016-2017 are: Treasurer Tommy Lawler, CEO and managing partner, Weaver; Tim McKinney, United Way president and CEO; Secretary Beverly Boyd; Jean Wallace, vice president human resources, Lockheed Martin; Corey Fickes, partner, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP; Mark Nurdin, CEO, Fort Worth Region, Bank of Texas; Richard Casarez, vice president, Oncor Electric Delivery; and Glen Sirles, community volunteer. United Way Board members elected to a new three-year term are Riz Chand, Justin Chapa, Sean Donohue, Robin Hamilton, Rachel Harris, Jill Lyttle, Steve Newton, James Powell and Tom Stallings. Casarez, Marcelo Cavazos, Fickes, Lawler, Nurdin, Richard Pierce and David Webb were elected to a second three-year term.

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Construction & Engineering

Sundt Construction Inc. hired James Leppo as a preconstruction project manager/project executive in its Dallas-Fort Worth office. Leppo has more than 30 years of industry experience in Texas, including 23 with two large nationally known general contractors.

Leppo started his career as a laborer and reinforcing steel installer before obtaining an engineering degree from the University of Texas. With a strong background in estimating, work procurement and operations, he has had numerous executive positions on a range of projects. Some of his projects include the Dallas County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Sally Beauty Corporate Headquarters, Naval Station Ingleside and the University of North Texas Science and Patient Care Center. He is a certified professional constructor by the American Institute of Constructors.

Health Care

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Cardiac electrophysiologist Dr. Senthil Thambidorai has been named regional medical director of electrophysiology (EP) for HCA North Texas. His primary areas of responsibility are the cardiac electrophysiology programs at Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth and Medical Center Alliance.

Thambidorai trained at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where he served as chief cardiac electrophysiology fellow. He then moved to Texas and joined the University of Texas Medical School at Houston as an assistant professor in cardiac electrophysiology. He also practiced at Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute, Texas Medical Center in Houston, prior to his move to Fort Worth, where he has been active in practicing electrophysiology for the past three years.

Honors & Awards

Lisa L. Langston, assistant athletic director for Fort Worth Independent School District since 1990, received the Citation for Texas award from the National Federation of State High School Associations for her significant contributions to the NFHS that impact high school activities. She will compete for national recognition with individuals from New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Her service at the state and national level includes: tournament director, boys’ basketball, University Interscholastic League; and member of Texas High School Athletic Director Association and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

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The Manufacturing Leadership Council recognized Lockheed Martin with four awards in three manufacturing categories. Lockheed Martin’s Automated Drilling and Fastening Systems Integration was recognized in the Innovative Process Leadership category and, as the highest scoring entry in the category, earned the High Achiever Award. In the Engineering and Production Technology Leadership category, Lockheed Martin was recognized for its Laser Ablation of F-35 Structure for Nutplates. Next Generation Advanced Metrology and Measurement Systems was recognized in the Innovative Process Leadership category.

The Chronicle of Higher Education again selected Texas Christian University as one of the top universities in its 2016 “Great Colleges to Work For” list. This is TCU’s sixth year to be recognized, and the university again earned recognition in all 12 areas of distinction, a feat no other university has achieved in two consecutive years.

Law

Harris, Finley & Bogle PC added Catherine H. Goodman and Blair L. Park to the firm. Goodman, formerly of Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller LLP, will continue to concentrate her 21-year practice in estate planning, probate and guardianship matters and related litigation. She is board certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Goodman is past president of the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association, and has served as a member of the Decedents’ Estates Committee for the Real Estate Probate & Trust Law Section (REPTL) of the State Bar of Texas. She recently began a term as chairman of REPTL’s Guardianship Committee. She also is the current president of Tarrant County’s Alliance For Children, a children’s advocacy center.

Park graduated cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2016 and will focus her practice on general business litigation.

Stephen Huschka joined the litigation section of Cantey Hanger LLP as an associate. Before joining the firm, he served as a briefing attorney to Justice Mike Willson of the Eleventh Court of Appeals of Texas. He also served as an extern to Judge Jane Boyle of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas and Justice Lee Gabriel of the Second Court of Appeals of Texas. Huschka is a member of the Texas Bar College, the Tarrant County Bar Association and the Tarrant County Young Lawyers Association.

McDonald Sanders added attorney Jeffrey M. Griffin as an associate. His practice focuses on the areas of business transactions, real estate, and oil and gas.

Nonprofit Organizations

Jessica Thomas is the new director of education for Junior Achievement of the Chisolm Trail Inc. Thomas is a communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. Previously, she was an associate director with the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center and focused on increasing program and volunteer support for the energy academy at Southwest High School. As a former career and technology educator with Fort Worth ISD, she was selected as Teacher of the Year in 2012 for Southwest High School and for the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center.

Real Estate

Duerk Brewer joined Greysteel as a managing director to lead and oversee the firm’s operations and Transaction Services Center. Brewer comes to Greysteel with 17 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was a vice president at Berkadia, responsible for integrating the company’s investment sales and mortgage banking platform. Prior to Berkadia, Brewer was a managing partner at Hendricks & Partners, a multifamily investment sales firm in Phoenix. Greysteel is a commercial real estate and capital markets services firm with seven offices nationwide, including one in Fort Worth.

Send newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net

Ben E. Keith’s Mitchell named nation’s top chef

Patrick Mitchell, – executive chef/culinary adviser at Ben E. Keith Foods in Fort Worth, is the 2016 American Culinary Federation (ACF) 2016 USA Chef of the Year.

Mitchell was named 2016 Central Region Chef of the Year on March 12 and competed for the national title against his regional counterparts during Cook. Craft. Create. Convention & Show in Phoenix July 15-19.

The ACF Chef of the Year award, sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions and established in 1963, recognizes an outstanding culinarian who works and cooks in a full-service dining facility. This person demonstrates the highest standard of culinary skills, advances the cuisine of America and gives back to the profession through the development of students and apprentices.

Mitchell joined Ben E. Keith in 2008 as executive chef in the Dallas-Fort Worth division. His experience includes serving as food and beverage director at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, and food and beverage director, manager and executive chef for Marriott International Inc. in Bethesda, Md.

A graduate from The Culinary Institute of America with an associate degree in culinary arts, Mitchell is a recipient of the ACF Chef Professionalism Award and a member of the American Academy of Chefs. Mitchell is a medal winner in both ACF sanctioned and international competitions. He is also a member of Texas Chefs Association and was named chapter Chef of the Year in 2015.

Crouch new UTA dean of engineering

Peter E. Crouch, the former dean of engineering for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the dean of Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, is now the dean of the College of Engineering and a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington.

A native of England, Crouch earned his undergraduate degree in engineering science from Warwick University in Coventry in 1973, and his master’s degree in control theory from Warwick the following year. Crouch then earned his Ph.D. in applied sciences from Harvard University in 1977. After joining Arizona State University in 1984, he rose through the academic ranks before being named dean of what would become the Fulton School of Engineering in 1995. He also served as ASU’s vice provost for global engagement from 2005-2006.

Crouch was appointed dean of the College of Engineering at UH Mānoa in 2006.

In his previous roles, Crouch successfully enlisted the help and support of major corporations to advance excellence in engineering education. At ASU, he helped secure the $50 million naming gift for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and helped lead the school into the top 50 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

At UH Mānoa, Crouch co-developed the Center for Research on Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education.