Leadership scholar joins TCU Neeley School of Business Mary Uhl-Bien has joined the TCU Neeley School of Business in a new position as the BNSF Railway Endowed Professor of Leadership. An authority on complexity leadership, relational leadership and followership, Uhl-Bien previously served as the Howard Hawks Chair in Business Ethics and Leadership at the University of Nebraska. She also has been a visiting scholar in Australia, Sweden, Portugal and Spain. She earned Ph.D., MBA and BBA degrees from the University of Cincinnati. She is senior editor of the Leadership Horizons series for Information Age Publishing. She currently serves on the editorial boards of The Leadership Quarterly and International Journal of Complexity in Leadership & Management, and previously served on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Journal and Academy of Management Review. Uhl-Bien is a co-founder of the Network of Leadership Scholars in the Academy of Management, and is division chair-elect for the OB Division in the Academy of Management. She also serves on the board of the Plexus Institute, and is an associate partner of the International Centre for Complex Project Management. She teaches for the Brookings Institute, the Gallup Organization and universities in the U.S. and Europe. She served as the executive consultant for State Farm Insurance Co. from 1998-2004. She participated in a Fulbright-Hays grant to Mexico in 2003, trained Russian business professionals for the American Russian Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1993-1996, and worked on a USAID grant at the Magadan Pedagogical Institute in Russia from 1995-1996.
Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Richie Escovedo joined Balcom Agency as account director and public relations specialist, bringing 13 years of public relations and school marketing experience. Prior to Balcom, Escovedo served as director of media and communications for the Mansfield Independent School District and, previously, director of communications for Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth. He is the recipient of several Texas School Public Relations Association Gold Stars and Fort Worth PRSA Worthy Awards. He currently serves as president of the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of PRSA.
Banking & Finance Northwestern Mutual Fort Worth hired Samantha White as training and development coordinator and three financial representatives, Charles Keeley, Chandler Smith and Trent Thannisch. White has worked seven years for Northwestern Mutual and had been on the Fort Worth support staff for new financial representatives. Keely was an adviser with another financial firm before joining Northwestern Mutual. As head coach at Paul Quinn College, his basketball team set an NAIA Division I record for field goal attempts in a regulation game. Smith previously was director of development and assistant dean for advancement with the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University. He has taught swing dancing throughout the United States and Australia and is a professional actor. For the past eight years, Thannisch has been director of operations, general manager, marketing director and training director for McDonalds and Chick-fil-A.
Education Kevin Ozee has been selected as director of athletics for Arlington Independent School District. Ozee has served as the director of athletics for Carroll ISD since 2009. Prior to that he served as director of athletics, assistant athletic director and athletic services coordinator for Duncanville ISD. Ozee also has served as an assistant principal, teacher and coach for DeSoto and Duncanville ISDs, University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas A&M University. Ozee was named NASPE National High School Athletic Director of the Year in 2013 and serves on the board of the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association.
Government Kevin Gunn, the director of technology services for the city of Denton, has been hired as the new chief technology officer and director for IT solutions for the city of Fort Worth. He has been with Denton since 2008 and is responsible for overseeing the operation of technology resources, developing technology initiatives, developing procedures for the appropriate use of technology and ensuring systems reliability and financial performance. Previously, Gunn was director of information technology in Killeen from 2004-2008.
Health Care Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital welcomes Dr. Lindsey Dietrich as a sports medicine physician. Dietrich graduated from Tulane University and Louisiana State University Medical School. She completed her residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Alabama and earlier this year, earned her sports fellowship training from the University of New Mexico. Dietrich is a part of Orthopedic Medicine Specialists, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice. The LaSalle Group Inc., owner and operator of 36 Autumn Leaves senior living communities across the country including seven in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, appointed Art Carver as vice president of construction. Carver will be responsible for the overall direction and coordination of the construction department as well as other business ventures. Previously, Carver was vice president of the Trades Division of Rockford Construction in Grand Rapids, Mich. Prior to that, he was a senior estimator at Roncelli Inc. in Sterling Heights, Mich.
Honors & Awards Plaid for Women Inc. will honor Leslie Casey, Kimberly Beatty and Jana Harris with the Pioneering Women of Texas Award at its inaugural conference Dec. 5 in Fort Worth. Casey, a founding member of FitWorth, is director for community relations at UNT Health Science Center. Beatty is associate vice chancellor of student success at Tarrant County College and Harris is the CEO of Harris Packaging Corp. and American Carton Co. Guillermina (Mina) Arredondo, a personal care attendant for Helping Restore Ability, was named statewide Attendant of the Year by the Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas, an organization that advocates for the rights of personal attendants and supports seniors and people with disabilities. Kristy Libotte Keener, the graphic design coordinator at North Central Texas Council of Governments, won three International Gold Marcom Awards for graphic design. Two were for transportation books designed for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The third award was for a flyer designed for the Toucan Rescue Ranch in Costa Rica.
Insurance Tim Hutto has been promoted to managing partner of the Fort Worth office of New York Life Insurance Co. Hutto started his insurance career in 1984 with his father’s independent property and causality agency in Pampa. In 1995 he became an agent and registered representative for New York Life in the Lubbock office. In 2000, he became a partner and in 2008 a senior partner. Hutto was promoted in 2009 to the managing partner of the Cedar Rapids General Office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Real Estate Williams Trew Sotheby’s International Realty welcomes its newest agent, Adrianne Huff Holland. A lifelong Fort Worth native, Holland has seven years of experience in commercial real estate, commercial lending and private equity.
Recruiting Ernest L. Thomas, Ph.D., retired president for Tarrant County College South Campus, has joined research and management recruiting firm JD & Associates Inc. He will lead the education business unit, serving as senior vice president and internal consultant. Thomas served 18 years in four-year colleges and 21 years in community colleges. His first professional position was in 1972 as recruiter and adviser for the Educational Opportunities Program at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, Wash. Over the span of his career, Thomas experienced a progression of leadership positions including coordinator of Upward Bound, director of educational support programs, dean of student development, vice president of student development and campus president. In tandem with his administrative appointments, Thomas served as an adjunct faculty for 12 years at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. His research interests include: leadership and change management, intercultural literacy, organizational design and dynamics, student learning and development, sociology of education and qualitative research.
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