Texas Health merges two foundations
Texas Health Resources has merged its Texas Health Presbyterian Foundation and Texas Health Harris Methodist Foundation into a single organization renamed Texas Health Resources Foundation. James K. (Jay) McAuley, formerly president of Texas Health Presbyterian Foundation, has been named president of the new organization. The new foundation’s 18-member board of volunteer community leaders, which was selected from members of the merged foundations’ boards, includes: Phillip Moroneso, chairman; Brock Compton, vice chairman; Carrol M. Bennett Jr.; Barry Epstein; S. Finley Ewing III; Martha Fikes; Pat Hawkins; Bill Lamkin; Richard E. LeBlanc; Thomas A. Leiser; Chesleigh Lloyd; Phillip Norwood; Mary Poss; Matthew Reynolds; Brenda Ritz; Michael J. Romo; Lynny Sankary and William C. Slicker. The merger of the two foundations is part of Texas Health’s 10-year strategy to transform from a hospital-centric organization to an integrated, regional health system. In planning this transition, Texas Health leaders studied best practices of other nationally recognized health systems and not-for-profit organizations. Together, the merged foundations hold assets of more than $210 million. No staff reductions are anticipated as a result of the merger.
Banking & Finance Tarrant County-based Worthington National Bank recently promoted Cee Yager to president and Dan Mocio to chief lending officer. In these new positions, Yager and Mocio will have increased responsibilities. As bank president, Yager will be responsible for managing and growing the entire bank’s loan and deposit portfolios. Mocio will oversee the bank’s loan approval process, credit quality, loan policies and procedures. Yager received an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and has an MBA from Texas Christian University. Yager is involved in several community organizations, including serving on the board of the Tarrant County Bankers Association, Fort Worth Sister Cities International and the YWCA Fort Worth & Tarrant County, and is an active participant in Bible Study Fellowship. Mocio received his bachelor’s degree from Texas Wesleyan University and is active in several community organizations, including the First Tee of Fort Worth and St. Andrew’s Church and school. Bonnie Lyons is the newest financial representative to join the Northwestern Mutual Fort Worth office. Originally from Delaware, she relocated to Fort Worth with her family in 2011. Lyons earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Maryland and had a career in real estate.
Boards & Organizations Dr. Michael Williams, interim president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center, has been appointed to a panel of health care executives guiding the development of a national forum created by U.S. News & World Report and called “Hospital of Tomorrow.” The forum will be held in November in Washington, D.C., and is designed to address critical challenges facing the health care industry. Williams was named interim president at UNTHSC in December. Previously, he was CEO of Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg. Sean Barrett, an associate at Wick Phillips law firm, has been named secretary of the French American Chamber of Commerce Dallas/Fort Worth. Barrett supports the firm’s growing corporate and finance practice and promotes business development within Dallas’ French-speaking business community. Barrett, who is bilingual in French and English, spent more than three years practicing law in the Paris office of a Magic Circle law firm, where he represented a diverse international client base in connection with a variety of cross-border transactions. While in France, Barrett also passed the Paris bar examination and became licensed as a French attorney. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology with distinction from McGill University and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Bilingual since childhood, Barrett split his education between American and French schools in Dallas, Houston, Athens and Paris, and he is also proficient in Spanish and Greek.
Health Care Dr. Jim Lowe has joined veterinary pharmaceutical company Vétoquinol USA as veterinary services veterinarian for the company’s Veterinary Business Unit. Lowe will be responsible for assisting with needs of the north and southeast regions of the United States. He brings more than 17 years of experience to his new position. Prior to joining Vétoquinol USA, Lowe worked as a private practice veterinarian at clinics in Arkansas, Kansas, Montana and Texas. From 2005-2009, he owned Large Animal Veterinary Services in Mountain Home, Ark. Most recently, he practiced at Conroe Veterinary Clinic in Conroe. Lowe is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Texas Veterinary Medical Association. He is a former member of the Baxter County Farm Bureau’s executive board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences, a bachelor’s degree in veterinary sciences and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M University.
Honors & Awards Twelve educators were inducted recently into the inaugural class of the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers, including Mary Lynn Crow and David J. Silva of the University of Texas at Arlington. Members of the academy serve as a system-level advocacy group dedicated to enhancing teaching, fostering innovation in the classroom, and promoting interdisciplinary perspectives on education. BNSF Railway recently honored employees from across its network at an awards ceremony in Fort Worth. Seven BNSF employees were honored as Safety Employees of the Year for outstanding contributions in support of an injury- and accident-free workplace: Carey Dotson, intermodal equipment operator, from Memphis, Tenn.; George Gross, telecommunications associate foreman, from Fort Worth; Lee Johnson, yardmaster, from Spokane, Wash.; Doug Peterson, track inspector, from Glendive, Mont.; Bruce Remz, switchman, from Barstow, Calif.; Devon Smoot, locomotive engineer, from Thayer, Mo.; and Darryl Woods, carman, from Kansas City, Kan. BNSF presented more than 500 Achievement Awards in 2012. Of those, 17 individual and team achievements were honored with Employee of the Year awards for accomplishments ranging from life-saving CPR to initiatives for improving customer service. BNSF also recognized 41 leaders as Best of the Best for their safety leadership in 2012, with work teams that achieved exceptional safety performance in 2012. Each work group was injury-free. Sue and Bob Johnson of Printing Plus in Fort Worth were honored for their company’s sales growth by CPrint International during the bi-annual board meeting in Nashville, Tenn. CPrint recognizes printers who have demonstrated a significant sales growth over the past year. A business plan created by six recent graduates of Texas Woman’s University’s executive MBA program won first place in the 2013 Small Business Institute’s Graduate Business Plan competition. Winners were December 2012 EMBA graduates Jay Mabrey of Dallas, Mara Ferguson of Lantana, Amanda Ortez of Sherman, Brandie Owen of Roanoke, Sumanjali Shrestha of Dallas and Mary Tiernan of Little Elm. They were cited for their final group capstone project, “Joint Improvement Consulting Team LLC,” a business plan for offering more efficient total joint replacement. Fort Worth Merrill Lynch financial adviser Bradley Bruce was recently recognized on Barron’s annual list of “America’s Top 1,000 Advisors: State-by-State” for 2013. The Texas Association of Counties honored the Tarrant County Clerk’s Office with its statewide 2013 Best Practices Award for a new information intranet website that links all 140 employees in 11 regional offices and 15 courts to help them improve customer service. County Clerk Mary Louise Garcia and Chief Deputy Jeff Nicholson recently accepted the award at ceremonies in Austin. Dubbed “Bridging the Gap,” the system provides employees with training materials, changes in policies and updates in procedures so they can use the latest best practices to serve customers throughout Tarrant County. Only four other Texas counties won best practice awards. The American Mathematical Society has named the University of Texas at Arlington the winner of its 2013 AMS Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. The award honors the mathematics department at UT-Arlington as a model of excellence among the group’s 570 member institutions. The society recognized the department for doubling the size of its doctoral program over five years and bolstering those ranks with historically underrepresented student groups, including women and minorities. From 2005 to 2010, the number of doctoral students in the UT-Arlington math department grew from 23 to 52. Large gains also were made in the number of U.S. citizens or permanent residents pursuing doctoral degrees. BNSF Railway recently received the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response’s National Achievement Award for enhancing community safety. The awards recognize companies for outstanding efforts to ensure the safe transportation of hazardous products. This is the 13th time BNSF has been recognized with the award since 1998. BNSF’s first-responder training has helped train more than 60,000 emergency responders over its 32,500-mile network in 28 states.
Hospitality John Klukan, formerly the general manager of the Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Solana, will assume the same role at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel. Klukhan has had general manager positions at the Dallas/Richardson Hilton & Towers, Renaissance Dallas/Richardson Hotel and the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center, and was market sales leader for Marriott International Inc. During his leadership, the Renaissance Tulsa was recognized with five national Renaissance Hotel awards. Klukan also was awarded the GM sales leadership honor during his tenure at the Renaissance Dallas/Richardson Hotel. In 2010, he was named general manager of the year – luxury tier –by the North Texas Hotel Association. Klukan is president of the North Texas Hotel Association and chairman of the Marriott International Inc. Business Council for the D-FW market. He previously had leadership and board positions with the Richardson Methodist Foundation; the Richardson, Plano and Tulsa symphonies; and the Food Bank of NE Oklahoma. In addition, he served on the board of the Sports Commission Brevard County Florida and the Georgia Hospitality & Travel Association. He also was active on chamber of commerce boards in Tulsa, Richardson, Southlake and Melbourne, Fla. A native of western Pennsylvania, he graduated from the Conrad N. Hilton School of Hotel & Restaurant management at the University of Houston.
Real Estate Phil Young joined Peyco Southwest Realty Inc. in 2012 and was recently promoted to vice president of property tax consulting. Young has nine years of commercial property tax valuation experience, including several years with the Tarrant Appraisal District commercial and litigation departments. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and serves on both the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Commercial Real Estate Advisory Council and the Business Development Advisory Council. In addition to his work in property tax representation, Young is involved in brokerage and leasing and property management for Peyco Southwest Realty. The Henry S. Miller Cos. has named Greg Miller to succeed his father as CEO and president of the Dallas-based real estate services firm, which will mark its centennial year in 2014. CEO Vance Miller died unexpectedly in February. The news that his youngest son would succeed him in the top executive position followed earlier news that his oldest son, Vaughn Miller, the president of Henry S. Miller Brokerage’s retail brokerage operations, has decided to leave the company to launch a new firm that will focus on retail development. Greg Miller has been with the Henry S. Miller Cos. for more than 10 years. Previously, he practiced real estate law for eight years with Geary, Porter and Donovan PC. Also as former president of Miller Realty Investment Partners and HSM Equity Partners, Greg Miller supervised the acquisition and structuring of commercial real estate transactions for the Henry S. Miller investment portfolio, including office, multifamily, retail, hotel and industrial properties. Vaughn Miller has formed VCM Development Group, named after the original development entity he and his father created in 1988 to develop single-tenant retail property. Retail RadioShack Corp. has named Jennifer Warren as senior vice president and chief marketing officer and Michael DeFazio as senior vice president, store concepts. Warren’s responsibilities will include leading all aspects of RadioShack’s marketing: brand strategy, advertising, corporate communications, social media and online customer experience. She joins the company with extensive experience developing strategy and building top-tier brands in the retail and mobile categories, including Samsung, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Zales, World Market, Land Rover, Charles Schwab, Kinko’s, Dell, Chili’s and Hallmark. Her experience includes leadership roles with agencies Razorfish, GSD&M and T-3. DeFazio’s responsibilities include the conceptualization, design, development and implementation of a new shopping experience for RadioShack consumers. He brings more than 36 years of retail experience to the company, including 30 years in store operations and merchandising. During the last six years, he led the transformation of store concepts for two retailers as both companies moved to become health and daily living destinations. During his tenure with Walgreens from 2011 to 2013, DeFazio established the Walgreens Well Experience store and all flagship stores for the company.
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