AVIATION
Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Shannon Massey, Bell’s vice president of assembly operations, to the Aerospace and Aviation Advi-sory Committee. The committee assists in the state’s economic development efforts to recruit and retain aerospace and aviation jobs and in-vestments.
BOARDS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Brent Sorrells, director of clinical operations for Allakos Inc., and Manan Atit, global head, ex-ternal opportunities, deals and partnerships, R&D at Alcon, have joined the TechFW board of directors. Sorrells is no stranger to TechFW. Beginning in July 2006, he was its director of programs. ZS Pharma, a TechFW client, hired Sorrells as director of clinical operations in Oc-tober 2012.
Gabriel Eckstein, professor of law at Texas A&M University School of Law and director of the Natural Resources Systems Program, has been elected president of the International Water Resources Association. His three-year term will begin in Janu-ary.
EDUCATION
The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine has appointed Dr. James Marshall as its first academic chair of pediatrics. With nearly 30 years of medical experience, he will lead the planning, operations and oversight in the pediatrics department.
Marshall currently is vice president and chief research officer for Cook Children’s Medical Center.
The University of North Texas appointed Hanchen Huang –as dean of the College of Engineering, effective Jan. 1.
He will have authority over research, outreach and curriculum. Previously, Huang was the Donald W. Smith Professor and chairman of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engi-neering at Northeastern University. There, he accumulated more than $1 million in research funding for his group while overseeing the department’s growth, including the addition of more than 20 tenured/tenure-track and 10 teaching faculty members.
ENGINEERING
Freese and Nichols Inc. has added Jimmy Gibson, a nationally experienced environmental services senior manager, to lead the firm’s environmental practice.
EQUIPMENT
Kubota Tractor Corp. has appointed Haruyuki (Harry) Yoshida as president and CEO of Kubota Tractor Corp. and Kubota North America, based in Grapevine. The appointment is effective Jan. 1. Yoshida is a 37-year Kubota veteran who most recently was managing executive officer GM of farm and industrial machinery domain, strategy and operations headquarters in Osaka, Japan. He has previously spent time in the United States in various posi-tions.
The current president and CEO, Masato Yoshikawa, has been promoted to director and senior managing executive officer, GM of planning and control headquarters, and GM of global IT man-agement. He and will assume his new role in Osaka at the start of the new year.
GOVERNMENT
Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Ademola “Peter” Adejokun, Rolando Rubiano and Kiran Shah to the Texas Board of Pro-fessional Engineers for terms set to expire on Sept. 26, 2023. The board licenses qualified engineers and regulates the prac-tice of professional engineering.
Adejokun, of Arlington, is a software engineer with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. and is a licensed professional engineer and a certified project management professional. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of the Project Management Institute, The International Council on Systems Engineering and the InfraGard National Infrastructure Protection Program. He has served on the National Council of Examiners of Engineering and Surveyors Software Engineering PE Licensure Exam Committee. He is on The University of Texas at Arlington Computer Science and Engineering Department In-dustry Advisory Board and the City of Arlington’s Zoning Board of Adjustments. Adejokun has bachelor’s degrees in computer sci-ence engineering and physics from The University of Texas at Arlington.
HONORS AND AWARDS
BBB has announced the 2018 winners of the annual BBB Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics. The awards recognize exemplary businesses that demonstrate ethical behavior and integrity in all aspects of their operations.
The winners in each category, desigated by business size, are:
· Dochen Realtors in Austin (1-10 employees);
· Olympic Restoration Systems in Keller (11-20 employ-ees);
· Taurean in Boerne (21-40 employees);
· McWilliams & Son in Lufkin (41-60 employees);
· Firefighting’s Finest Moving and Storage Inc. in Fort Worth (61-99 employees);
· Apex Capital Corp in Fort Worth (100-plus employees).
SPORTS
College Football Hall of Fame tight end and Dallas Cowboys great Jay Novacek will be the guest speaker at the 2018 Lock-heed Martin Armed Forces Bowl’s Kickoff Luncheon the Omni Fort Worth at noon on Dec. 21.
Novacek was a five-time Pro Bowl selection (1991-95) in six years with the Cowboys, and he played on three of the fran-chise’s Super Bowl championship teams (1992, 1993 and 1995). He finished his Dallas career with 339 catches for 3,576 yards and 22 touchdowns, which included 62 receptions for 645 yards and six scores in 13 post-season games.
Send newsmakers to Robert Francis at rfrancis@bizpress.net.