TCC board appoints Patrick
to unexpired term as trustee
The Tarrant County College Board of Trustees appointed former State Rep. Diane Patrick to fill the District 3 seat recently vacated by Kristin Vandergriff. Patrick will take the oath of office at the Aug. 18 board meeting and serve through May 2917.
The May election will be for the remainder of the unexpired term, which ends in May 2021. Trustees selected Patrick from among four finalists.
District 3 covers north and central Arlington and part of Euless.
A former teacher, Patrick has spent 24 years as an elected official. She served four 2-year terms (2007-2014) as a Republican state representative for House District 94 in Arlington, serving on the Appropriations, Higher Education and Public Education committees. Prior to her election to the Legislature, Patrick was a member of the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees and the Texas State Board of Education. In 2015, AISD’s school board named an elementary school in Patrick’s honor.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of North Texas and administrative certification from the University of Texas at Arlington. Patrick has been an elementary teacher, a psychiatric hospital education director and adjunct professor at Texas Christian University and Dallas Baptist University. She recently returned to UT Arlington as full-time Education Leadership faculty in the College of Education. Her academic and research interests include charter schools, women in politics and public education policy.Architecture
The newest shareholder at Quorum Architects Inc. is Kim Dowdy as director of animal care design. Since joining Quorum in 2006, Dowdy has been involved in the planning and design of more than 30 animal care facilities, working with municipalities including Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, Lewisville, Carrollton, Seguin, Pflugerville, San Marcos and Sugar Land. She has attended Texas Unites for Animals for six years as an exhibitor and speaker, and she is a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, Cowtown Brush Up Fort Worth and Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. She also has served as a consultant for eLAMPco, a student-run business at VR Eaton’s Business Academy.
Banking & Finance
PlainsCapital Bank named Brian Lixey executive vice president and lending manager and Trey Ramsay as senior vice president and commercial loan officer for its Western Place location in Fort Worth. Lixey will oversee the branch’s commercial loan and depository business, manage the lending team and help grow the commercial loan portfolio. He has nearly 20 years of business and banking experience, most recently as Tarrant County market president for BankSNB. Prior to that, he was Tarrant County market president for BB&T. Lixey serves on the Hudson Oaks City Council, is a board member for Cystic Fibrosis Fort Worth and Catholic Charities Fort Worth, and is a director for Texas Neighborhood Services. He is a past director of the Child Study Center in Fort Worth and United Way Parker County, a former committee member for the Ben Hogan Foundation, and a former trustee for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Ramsay will be responsible for generating and developing commercial loan business in the Tarrant County area. With nearly 16 years of banking experience, Ramsay most recently was a commercial lender for BankSNB. Prior to that, he was a commercial banker for BB&T. Ramsay is a board member and past president of the White Settlement Youth Football Association and a former board member of the Tarrant County Youth Football Association. He has coached youth football for both organizations, and he volunteered his time coaching youth basketball for the Benbrook YMCA and the White Settlement Youth Association.
Boards & Organizations
The Fort Worth Chapter of Financial Executives International elected officers and appointed committee chairmen for 2016-2017. They are: president, Ross Staffel, Advance Global Communications Inc.; past president, Thomas Hook, Lockton Companies LLC; president-elect and membership, Carol Stuckley, Healthcare Payment Specialists LLC; programs, Alan Martin, Catholic Charities Fort Worth Inc.; treasurer, Drew Chumley, Heart Test Laboratories Inc.; arrangements, Tina Castillo, Tandy Leather Factory Inc.; academic relations, Lin Zou, Texas Woman’s University; career management, Paul Keller, Completion Industrial Minerals LLC; professional development, Clayton Stockdall; directory, Jennifer McKeever, Hub International Insurance Services; diversity, Vanessa Gomez, Quicksilver Resources; sponsorship, Shannon Greene, Tandy Leather Factory Inc.; web/technology, Philip Mangone, FleetPride Corp.; publicity, Mason Kruse, Caird Energy LLC; and golf tournament, Tom Jewell, Travis Wolff.
New members to the board of Mayfest Inc. are Mary Ann Kleuser and Natalie Martin. They join President Bart Tucker, Vice President Teri McGuill, Treasurer Debbie Boudreaux and Secretary Lisa O’Connor, all newly elected. Other members are: Janet Bubert, Carrie Cappel, Will Churchhill, Randle Harwood, Kathleen Hicks, Bryan Liles, Chad Lorance, Rachel Navejar, Stacey Pierce, Tiffany Rubenkoenig and Richard Zavala.
Education
Jimmy Gresham is the new director of facilities at Texas Wesleyan University. Gresham will direct and coordinate the daily operations of buildings, housekeeping and grounds maintenance and will assist with renovation and new construction. Previously, Gresham was senior associate director of facilities at Mountain View College, where he worked since in 2009 after nine years of managing commercial construction projects.
Government
Mindy Gowdy Carmichael is the new public works and transportation director for the city of Arlington, the city’s first female in that position. She succeeds Keith Melton, who retired in March after 32 years with the city. Carmichael began her career with Arlington in 1997 as a project engineer/civil engineer. In 2011, she was named operations assistant director, where she was responsible for managing the city’s street maintenance sales tax program, the capital improvement program and about 175 employees in traffic engineering, traffic operations and street maintenance. Previously she worked seven years at a Texas Department of Transportation as an engineer in advanced project management.
Honors & Awards
Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), has been named by the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) as the recipient of its 2016 International Award of Excellence in Conservation. As executive director of TPWD since 2008, Smith is responsible for overseeing 3,100 professionals in 11 divisions including Wildlife, State Parks, Coastal and Inland Fisheries, and the Texas Game Wardens. Previously Smith was state director of The Nature Conservancy of Texas. He serves on several conservation-related boards and advisory councils and is chairman of the Teaming With Wildlife Committee of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and a member of the association’s executive committee. He is a past president of both the Southeastern and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The award will be presented at BRIT’s annual event on Oct. 20 in Fort Worth.
Larry Eubank, operations manager for the Kimbell Art Museum, was named Facility Manager of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the International Facility Management Association. He was recognized specifically for his role in the 2013 opening of the museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion. Eubank has been with the Kimbell since it opened in 1972. He and his 22-person staff are responsible for the museum’s building maintenance, restoration and master planning, and the design and construction of exhibition displays.
Gloria Starling, — photo — managing partner of The Capital Grille in Fort Worth, has achieved parent company Darden Restaurants’ Diamond Club status, which recognizes her commitment to delivering guest experiences at the highest level.
The 2016 honorees at SafeHaven of Tarrant County’s 24th annual Legacy of Women Awards luncheon on Oct. 12 will be: Sissy Day, Texas Petition Strategies; Fonda Martin, Fonda Enterprises; Mayor Betsy Price, city of Fort Worth; Alice Puente, community volunteer; Lynda Railsback, Friends of the Arts; Lynda Sanders, Colleyville Women’s Club; Shonda Schaefer, GRACE; Nancy Tice, Arlington Museum of Art; Renova Williams, community volunteer; and Sharen Wilson, Tarrant County district attorney.
Hospitality
LBA Hospitality named Terri Elorreaga general manager and Julia Moye director of sales for the soon-to-open 124-room Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth located in the Stockyards National Historic District. Elorreaga will supervise the hotel’s opening, oversee daily operations and manage associate development. Elorreaga has led Fort Worth and Dallas-area hotels for more than 10 years.
Moye, a 19-year veteran of the hospitality industry, has held several sales management positions, most recently as director of sales for the Hampton Inn and Suites Burleson.
Law
The Fort Worth office of Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP added James C. Scott as a partner in the litigation practice group and Jennifer S. McDaniel as an associate in the corporate and securities practice group. Scott’s practice focuses on civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels in commercial matters including oil and gas, financial and real estate litigation. Previously, Scott was a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell in Dallas.
McDaniel was previously a portfolio manager at Apex Capital Corp., where she supervised account executives responsible for managing more than 300 clients. She is a member of the Lawyers-Pilots Bar Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association and the International Aerobatic Club-Chapter 24.
Museums
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History hired Lance Ortiz as executive director of development and membership. Ortiz is a former associate director of development at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Previously he was director of development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County, and prior to that he was associate vice president for institutional advancement at West Texas A&M University. He also was senior manager of advancement services for the American Quarter Horse Foundation in Amarillo. Ortiz is a member of the American Alliance of Museums and has served on the boards of numerous organizations with an emphasis on education, fine arts and philanthropy.
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