Airlines John McDonald, US Airways vice president of communications, will become vice president of corporate communications and public affairs after American and US Airways complete their merger. Cindy Fiedelman, American’s vice president of people and diversity, has been named vice president of people at the new American. Donald Casey, American’s vice president of revenue management, will stay in that position after the merger.
Banking & Finance Bobby Clark is the new senior vice president at Worthington National Bank’s Colleyville location, after recently serving as senior VP at Worthington’s Arlington Main Street location. He brings more than 10 years of banking experience and will be responsible for commercial and consumer loan services. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a degree in management and completed an Executive MBA Certification Program at Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. Clark serves on the UT-Arlington alumni board. Hollie Fleming has joined Caprock Auto Remarketing as its auction manager. Fleming brings 15 years of experience and joins Caprock from Manheim DFW Auto Auction, where she managed specialty sales, including boats, RVs and motorcycles. She served as commercial accounts manager, overseeing operations and administration for all fleet and factory customers, and was Ford factory manager and Ford administrative manager. Whitley Penn made the following promotions in its Fort Worth office: senior manager, Kimberly DeWoody, audit; manager, Chris Luersen, information technology; and senior, Brady Carrington, audit; Amber Gau, tax; Elizabeth Godwin, tax; Andy Hines, audit; William Rather, tax; Jonathan Rittenhouse, audit; and Tim Smith, tax. The firm also added Jackson Jones, formerly the director of financial compliance for Texas Health Resources in Fort Worth, and Michael Hughens, formerly with KPMG, to its audit staff.
Boards & Organizations Holly Carless is the new government relations officer at the American Association of Professional Landmen, headquartered in Fort Worth. She was previously the director of public affairs and government relations at Wilks Brothers LLC. Three Tarrant County attorneys – Philip Vickers, Judd Pritchard and Damon Hickman – have been selected to serve as the Tarrant County Bar’s Intellectual Property Law Section Board of Directors for the 2013-2014 bar year. Vickers, a partner at Cantey Hanger LLP, will serve as chairman. Vickers is a former law clerk to Judge Michael Schneider of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Vickers attended the University of Texas School of Law. Pritchard, vice chairman, practices with Barlow, Garsek & Simon LLP. He attended the University of Texas School of Law. Hickman, treasurer/secretary, is with The Law Offices of James E. Walton PLLC. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas Christian University and a law degree from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Education Texans Can Academies recently hired Oscar Rodriguez Jr. as its new superintendent of schools. Rodriguez brings nearly 40 years of experience to oversee the academic instruction and management of Texas Can Academies’ 10 campuses and 8,300 students. He succeeds Yolanda Cruz-Wilder, who is retiring after 11 years as superintendent. Rodriguez previously was superintendent in the Laredo and Mission school districts. He was honored as the State of Texas Superintendent of the Year while at Mission. He is a former teacher, principal and area superintendent in the Dallas Independent School District. Childrens Lighthouse Learning Centers promoted Daelyn Dillahunty to vice president of franchise operations. She joined the company eight years ago and most recently was director of franchise training and support. The Texas Wesleyan graduate has worked in early childhood education since 1987 at a variety of companies with multiple regional and national locations. Since joining Childrens Lighthouse, she has led the opening of 18 new centers. She is overseeing the opening of three centers this summer, and a total of five before the end of the year. More than 20 other centers are in development.
Government Lynda L. Johnson has been named chief performance officer for the city of Fort Worth. Johnson will focus on implementing a new performance management system for all city employees. Since 2007, she has been director of the Human Resources/Performance Office for the city of Irving. She brings more than 25 years of municipal government experience to her new position. While at Irving, she gained experience in resource and personnel management and training, including the Lean Six Sigma business process improvement system, which helped Irving win the 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Lean Six Sigma will play a key role in Fort Worth’s efforts to design and implement training standards. Johnson has a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Indiana University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. She will join the city in August.
Health Care Dr. David Klein, who has served as interim president of Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth since July 2012, has been named president. Klein joined Baylor in May 2009 as chief operating officer. He practiced in general surgery for 14 years before becoming a full-time hospital administrator. Prior to joining Baylor Fort Worth and Baylor Southwest, he was administrator of Presbyterian Hospital of Denton and CEO of Cedar Park Regional Medical Center near Austin. Klein earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, an MBA from the University of California, Irvine, and a doctor of medicine degree from the University of New Mexico. Klein is a board member for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society of Tarrant County, Fort Worth South Inc., Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute, Baylor Surgicare at Fort Worth, Baylor Surgicare at Granbury and Baylor Surgicare at Oakmont. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons and serves on the THA Hospital Physician Executive Council. Texas Health Resources named Gayla Harvey as senior vice president and chief revenue officer. Harvey joins from UC Health LLC, where she was the senior vice president of strategic planning, revenue cycle and payer relations. Her 30-year career includes health care finance management with providers and with national payers such as Humana Health Plan, United Healthcare and CareSource.
Honors & Awards Brian Conway, who has been the director of the Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine program at Texas Health Resources since 2004, was named one of 12 “Most Distinguished Athletic Trainers” for 2013 by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Conway has nearly 30 years of experience in athletic training in high school, college and professional sports. He joined Texas Health Ben Hogan in 2002; he and his team opened North Texas’ first outpatient concussion centers at Texas Health hospitals in Dallas and Fort Worth. He was an athletic trainer at Midlothian, Grand Prairie and Arlington Martin high schools and the head athletic trainer and assistant athletic director at the University of Texas at Arlington. He also was the head athletic trainer of the Dusseldorf RheinFire of the World League of American Football. A graduate of Texas Christian University, Conway has been honored by The Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association with the Frank Medina Award and the Eddie Wojecki Award. He has been inducted into its hall of fame and has served as its president and national director. Beverly Black, professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington, has been chosen as the Best Reviewer for 2013 for the Journal of Social Work Education. Black also will be presented with the Distinguished Recent Contributions in Social Work Education Award in October at the annual program meeting of the Council on Social Work Education in Dallas. MHBT Inc. chairman and CEO Bill Henry won the 2013 Independent Insurance Agents of Texas Drex Foreman Award. This year, Henry became the inaugural chairman of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation for the Texas Southeast region, and the foundation has raised more than $300,000 in one year. Pavlik and Associates won three Hermes Creative Awards 2013 from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. The Fort Worth firm was executive producer of three videos for the Fort Worth Police Officers’ Award Foundation. Receiving a platinum award in the Video/Educational category was a video titled “An Unparalleled Partnership,” which spotlights Fort Worth police and their commitment to the community. “The Best,” the official recruitment video of the Fort Worth Police Department, won a platinum award in the Video/Government category. The third video, titled “The Call Is Given,” received a gold award in the Video/Nonprofit category. Adam Hasley, a University of North Texas junior from Forney who is studying finance in the College of Business, is one of four students in the nation selected as U.S. Student Ambassadors for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation China CEO Forum in Beijing and one of 30 U.S. students selected to attend the APEC CEO Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Luxury home builder Toll Brothers has been named Texas Builder of the Year by the Texas Association of Builders for the fifth time. In addition, TollBrothers.com received the Best Website Star Award for its design and functionality. Texas Health Resources has been named by Hospital & Health Networks magazine as one of the nation’s “Most Wired” health care systems for the 13th time in 15 years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has approved the Fort Worth Transplant Institute, Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth’s kidney transplant program. The United Network for Organ Sharing formally authorized the institute in August 2012. The Wellness for Life mobile health program at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth has earned national recognition for its approach to providing preventive cancer care. The program is among 10 2013 Innovator Award winners named by the Association of Community Cancer Centers. Fort Worth-based Rahr and Sons Brewing Co. won two awards at the 2013 U.S. Open Beer Championship. It won the gold in the strong Scottish ale category for its Iron Thistle beer and the bronze in the dopple/strong bock category for The Regulator.
Hospitality The Omni Fort Worth Hotel appointed Janice Cahill as the director of human resources, and 20-year industry veteran Thomas Turner returned to Omni as the new director of food and beverage. Cahill has worked in HR departments for nearly 25 years, including positions with Ecolab, Bally Total Fitness and Hyatt Hotel properties nationwide. Before joining Omni, she was an adjunct instructor for Tarrant County College. Turner returns to Omni after a year as assistant general manager at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Horseshoe, Texas. Prior to that, Turner was director of food and beverage at the Omni Chicago Hotel, Omni Austin Hotel Downtown and Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort. He began his career with Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts.
Law Cantey Hanger LLP named Michael Appleman as vice chairman, Tax Practice Group. Appleman is a third-generation Fort Worth attorney. His practice focuses in the areas of estate planning (wills and trusts), probate and estate administration, guardianships, tax matters (personal and corporate income, gift and estate) and small business formation. He also advises nonprofit organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors Program. He received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1993 and joined Cantey Hanger that year.
Signs Jaysen Lamb has been appointed chief financial officer at Paladin Signs & Graphics. Lamb assisted his uncle, Paladin founder Paul Lamb, in building the company brand and managing investments, and has been an active member of the board for five years. Lamb is an honors business graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington. His specialties include consumer relations, financial management, corporate restructuring, operations, quality improvement, inventory management, new business development and acquisition.
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