People: Tarleton names new leader for Fort Worth campus

Sudman

Tarleton names new leader

for Fort Worth campus

Philip D. Sudman, head of the Department of Biological Sciences at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, is the new executive director of Tarleton’s Fort Worth campus.

Sudman, who joined Tarleton in 1996, steps in as part of a change in the leadership structure. Beginning with the spring semester, Tarleton-Fort Worth will move from having three directors to one executive director in order to create a single point of contact and increase efficiency.

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Of the current directors, Sundarrajan Sankar, director of business programs, returned to full-time teaching in September. Juanita Reyes, director of education programs, is now a full-time, tenure-track faculty member, and Sandi McDermott, director of health and service professions, is the new director of the university’s Midlothian campus.

As executive director, Sudman will coordinate the nearly 40 graduate and undergraduate programs offered in Fort Worth and oversee services for the more than 1,700 students currently enrolled.

“Phil Sudman’s appointment provides us with an experienced leader as we continue to grow our programs and prepare to construct the first building on our new campus,” said President F. Dominic Dottavio. “As an experienced faculty member and department head, he will support our efforts in providing a strong student focus and a superior student experience in Fort Worth.”

Sudman has a doctorate in zoology from Texas A&M University, a master’s degree in biology from Fort Hays State University in Kansas and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Central University of Iowa.

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With its main campus in Stephenville, Tarleton has been a part of the Texas A&M University System since 1917. The university also has an outreach campus in Weatherford.

Banking & Finance

Capital One Bank named Tiffany Cason as Fort Worth market president and middle market commercial banking executive. Cason has 15 years of banking experience in Fort Worth and Dallas. She most recently was senior vice president-commercial banking manager for BBVA Compass in Fort Worth. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at Wachovia Bank and KBK Financial.

Legend Bank appointed Randi Mitchell as vice president, marketing director. Mitchell has more than 16 years of financial marketing experience, including 12 years in marketing management, and previously was senior vice president of marketing for OmniAmerican Bank. She is a certified financial marketing professional, an honors graduate of the American Bankers Association School of Bank Marketing and Management and a graduate of Leadership Fort Worth.

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Justin Holt joined Origin Bank (formerly Community Trust Bank) as a senior vice president and commercial relationship banker with the Fort Worth banking team. Holt has more than 10 years of banking experience, specializing in accounts receivable, inventory, equipment and owner-occupied real estate lending to middle market manufacturers and distributors. In his new job, he will focus on growing middle market loan and deposit opportunities for the organization.

Jim Patterson joined Southwest Bank’s Grapevine location as senior vice president-commercial lending, bringing more than 30 years of banking experience in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Previously, he was senior vice president at American Momentum Bank in Dallas and president of the Keller branch of Prosperity Bank.

Boards & Organizations

The 2016 board for Don’t Forget to Feed Me Pet Food Bank includes: President Lisa Hoppes, Hoppes & Cutrer LLC; Brooke Mixon, Brooke Mixon PLLC; Secretary Mary Danylak, Thomson Reuters; Treasurer Kelly Gum, Southwest Airlines; and Immediate Past President Leigh Atkinson, Thomson Reuters. At-large members are Amber Blair, Range Resources Corp.; Maria Koegl, Ideal Partners; Michael Parker, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Corp.; and Amy Walker, Cook Children’s Hospital.

Three University of Texas at Arlington faculty members have been named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors. The 2015 class will include materials scientist Duane Dimos, vice president for research; David Nygren, presidential distinguished professor of physics; and Kenneth Reifsnider, presidential distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. The new Fellows will be inducted April 15 as part of the academy’s fifth annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Commercial Roofing

Ramon Franklin LLC named veteran commercial contractor Denver Green president and chief operating officer. Green most recently was president of Mountain Top Enterprises, dba Saratoga Roofing & Construction.

Engineering & Construction

Pape‐Dawson Engineers Inc. hired Richard “Rick” P. Horn Jr. as a new senior project manager in the Fort Worth office. Horn has more than 35 years of experience in land and site planning, governmental entitlements, design, and project management of commercial, industrial and residential land development projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. His local project experience includes the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Master Plan, CentrePort industrial/office development, Gaylord Resort/Conference Center, Alliance Airport, Trophy Club development and Palisades Business Park.

The newest addition to the Sundt Construction Inc. Dallas-Fort Worth team is Jeff Grigsby, a construction industry veteran with more than 18 years of experience. He will serve as preconstruction project manager and lead transportation construction projects. His experience includes work at a number of construction companies as well as the Texas Department of Transportation. Grigsby has been the senior estimator and lead estimator on a variety of highway, municipal, utility, alternative energy, railroad, private development and recreation projects.

Honors & Awards

Jamie Cox, a career and technology teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District, has been chosen as the 2015 Educator of the Year by Keep America Beautiful. Cox has taught for 24 years and is currently sponsor of the Environmental Club at Polytechnic High School. Cox leads the weekly Trash Bash event on her campus and around the community. She is the vice president of the Keep Fort Worth Beautiful board and is a member of the Keep Edgecliff Village Beautiful board. She was elected Volunteer of the Month for Keep Fort Worth Beautiful in June 2014 and received the Keep Texas Beautiful Educator of the Year award for 2015. Cox will receive her national award in February at the KAB Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. named Texas Motor Speedway its Track of the Year for 2015. The award is presented annually for best overall performance in fan friendliness, attendance, financial performance, sponsor relations and creativity.

Westworth Village senior living community Westmore has been awarded Best Senior Living of 2016 by SeniorAdvisor.com, the largest ratings and reviews site for senior care and services in North America.

Human Resources

WhitneySmith Co. recently promoted Gretchen Smith to executive vice president and Cheryl Lopez and Steve Peglar to senior vice president.

Law

Brittany A. Weaveris a new associate attorney at Bourland, Wall & Wenzel PC. Weaver will practice in the business and litigation section of the firm.

Nonprofit Organizations

Peter W. Fritsch, Ph.D., recently joined the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) as the director of the herbarium. Fritsch brings more than 20 years of botanical curation and research accomplishments to BRIT. He is charged with the overall care, cataloging and development of the BRIT collections. In addition, Fritsch will continue his research program on plant diversity, comparative morphology and biogeography. He previously was curator of collections in the Department of Botany, California Academy of Sciences, for 19 years. While there, he conducted national and international botanical research and served for two terms as chairman of the department. He also served on the board at Quarryhill Botanical Garden in Sonoma County, and he has twice been a Visiting Scholar at the Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan Province, China. Fritsch has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including articles in Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described 38 plant species new to science from places around the globe, and presented numerous scientific and public talks on his work and the importance of plants in science and society.

Real Estate

Bret Bunnett, a 30-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry, has been named acting regional managing director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Dallas-Fort Worth region.

Lynsey Tate is the new executive director of Sagora Senior Living’s community, Waterview, located in Granbury. Tate joins Sagora has more than 10 years of experience in property management and in customer service relations. Tate most recently worked as a manager for G.L. Couch Properties, where she was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of a multifamily housing complex.

Send newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net