AVIATION AND AEROSPACE
Novaria Group, a family of precision aerospace and defense component companies has announced that Mary Gallagher has joined its board of directors. Gallagher most recently served as chief financial officer of Wheels Up, a membership-based private aviation company. Prior to Wheels Up, Gallagher spent 12 years at United Technologies Corporation in increasingly senior finance leadership roles, including most recently as chief financial officer of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, where she drove the proposed spin-off and ultimate sale of Sikorsky to Lockheed Martin for $9 billion.
BANKING/FINANCE
Amy L. Yoon has been named vice president of Finance, secretary at Calloway’s Nursery Inc., effective May 13, 2020. Yoon formerly served Calloway’s in the position of Controller.
Prior to joining Calloway’s, she served as controller for a Carrollton-based manufacturing company. She has over 13 years of experience in accounting, with a Master’s degree in Accounting & Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a MBA degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has previously served as Executive Director and board member for the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, as well as on the board of the National Board of Sigma Phi Omega Sorority, Inc. She lives in Arlington with her husband and son.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has added Brian Littlefield and Chris Berzon to its Fort Worth office
at 201 Main St., Suite 1500, as first vice presidents, financial advisor.
Littlefield was formerly with Wells Fargo for 10 years. He’s a native of Fort Worth and lives in Aledo, TX with his family. Berzon also was with Wells Fargo for 12 years. He is a native of Houston and earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Arlington. He lives in Fort Worth with his wife and two daughters.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services with offices in more than 41 countries.
EDUCATION
The TCU Neeley School of Business and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce have committed to a three-year partnership to provide annual scholarships to FWHCC members to help multicultural professionals obtain a full-time MBA degree at TCU.
The scholarship includes full tuition and waiver of all fees for two academic years to attend the full-time TCU MBA program, a value of more than $120,000, and covers the cost of a two-year membership in the FWHCC, the organizations said in a news release.
The first recipients of the full-time TCU MBA scholarships, Andres Crosby and Glenda Diaz, will begin the full-time TCU MBA in Fall 2020.
Crosby is a senior project manager for American Airlines and Diaz is a realtor with Kelly Williams .
ENERGY
The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers has hired Jason Modglin as its new president. For the past decade, Modglin has been at the forefront of the most pressing oil and natural gas policy issues facing Texas and the nation. Modglin comes to the Alliance from the Texas Railroad Commission, where he served as director of public affairs for Commissioner Christi Craddick. Previously, he was chief of staff for House Energy Resources Chairman Drew Darby and a policy analyst for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. Modglin’s hiring follows the election of Cye Wagner as the new chair of the Alliance board of directors. An operator and petroleum engineer, she is the first woman to serve as chair in the Alliance’s 90-year history. Wagner is with Cooper Oil and Gas in Fort Worth.
ENGINEERING
Freese and Nichols Inc., continues to expand its environmental services with the addition of Sheri Larson, PG, a senior project manager with broad expertise in site assessment and remediation for public and private entities.
GOVERNMENT
Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon was elected chair of the Regional Transportation Council June 11 and will lead the 44-member transportation policymaking body for the next year.
Harmon replaces Denton County Judge Andy Eads. Harmon, who was appointed to the RTC in 2001, will also lead the RTC during the 87th Texas Legislative Session, which begins in January.
Dallas County Commissioner Theresa Daniel is the new vice chair after serving as secretary for the past year. Fort Worth City Councilmember Ann Zadeh was named secretary. Daniel has been a member of the RTC since 2018; Zadeh was appointed in 2017. The new officers will serve in their positions through June 2021.
Grapevine native Mia Hutchens, formerly manager of Government Affairs for the Texas Association of Business, has joined the staff of Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick as the new Director of Public Affairs. Hutchens joins the team after spending years in the private sector focusing on oil and gas policy. She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Political Science.
HONORS/AWARDS
Wayne Owen, planning director at the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) in Fort Worth, has been named the 2020 recipient of the George W Fuller Award by the American Water Works Association (AWWA). The prestigious award honors association members for their distinguished service to the water supply field, the district said in a news release.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, at its recent board meeting this week, awarded the East Parker County Chamber with 5-Star Accreditation for its sound policies, effective organizational procedures, and positive impact on the community.
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION
Sunwest Communications has added noted strategic communications professional and media expert Rebecca Rodriguez as managing director. Rodriguez joins Sunwest Communications from the U.S. House of Representatives in the office of Congresswoman Kay Granger, where she served as district director.
Prior to this role, she served as a communications manager at the City of Arlington, chief of communications at Dallas ISD, and vice president of marketing and community relations at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, respectively.
Rodriguez is a former broadcast journalist who worked as an anchor and reporter at both CBS-owned KTVT and WFAA television stations in Dallas. Prior to landing in Dallas for more than half of her career, Rodriguez worked as a broadcast journalist in Waco, Austin and Seattle. She went on to launch her own communications firm, Ciano Media, which specialized in bilingual content development, video production and strategic communications.
Also joining the Sunwest team is Southern Methodist University graduate and Navy veteran Jerry Crayton. He initially joined Sunwest as an intern. Crayton served four years in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Machinist Mate (Aircraft Mechanic).
Mary Eskander has joined Balcom Agency as account director. Eskander brings more than 13 years of advertising experience across multiple industries to her new role at Balcom.
She was previously a senior client relations manager at Williams Lea Tag’s Fort Worth office and oversaw the delivery of business-critical services for Tarrant County-based Alcon. At Balcom, Eskander will primarily guide strategic planning and implementation for the agency’s work on Smith+Nephew’s Advanced Wound Care Management division.
HEALTH CARE
The Metropolitan Area EMS Authority (MAEMSA) has named Veer D. Vithalani, M.D., as the Medical Director for the MAEMSA system. Vithalani originally joined the MAEMSA system as an Associate Medical Director in July of 2014 and has been serving as the system’s Interim Medical Director since October 2018. In this role, Vithalani has become an invaluable resource for the EMS system providers, as well as the leaders of the 15 member cities of the EMS Authority, MAEMSA said in a news release.
Vithalani is president-elect of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of EMS Physicians, a board member for the Tarrant County Medical Society, and past chair of the EMS and Trauma Committee for the Texas Medical Association.