Edward H. L. Playfair has been appointed partner in charge of Adams and Reese’s Nashville office.

Playfair, who also serves as the firm’s Intellectual Property Team leader, serves clients’ intellectual property needs across the nation and around the world. He joined Adams and Reese in 2009 and previously practiced international law in the United Kingdom and is admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Playfair has served as an independent consultant to The Coca-Cola Co. on sponsorship and brand promotion initiatives at the XIX Olympic Winter Games, Salt Lake City 2002 and at The Masters golf tournament. He also worked as an appraiser and then-youngest auctioneer at Sotheby’s, specializing in the fields of sports antiques and military medals.

A graduate of the University of St. Andrews, Playfair earned both his G.D.L. L.P.C. from the University of the West of England.

Construction lawyers group chooses Waller’s Dunn

Chris Dunn, a partner with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, has been named a fellow with the American College of Construction Lawyers, an invited association of construction law practitioners, professors and judges.

Founded in 1989, the college’s mission is to improve and enhance the practice and understanding of construction law and to promote the positive role of lawyers as “friends of the project.” The College includes attorneys from the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and France. Fellowship is extended by invitation to those lawyers who have mastered the practice or the teaching of construction law and dispute resolution

Dunn is a member of the Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel and a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Association. He has been recognized Best Lawyers since 2007 for his transactional and litigation experience in construction-related matters. He earned his J.D. in 1994 from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He also is a graduate of Villanova University.

Ingram named to lead Legal Aid Society group

Lynne T. Ingram has joined Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands as lead family law attorney in the Nashville office.

Ingram will manage the Family Law Practice Group in Nashville, provide legal representation to clients and participate in administrative advocacy and community education. Additionally, she will aid in the coordination of Legal Aid Society’s civil-legal advocacy program for volunteer attorneys.

Ingram brings nearly 20 years of legal experience to Legal Aid Society and serves as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law. Before joining Legal Aid Society, Ingram worked as a partner for Barton and as an attorney with her own practice, Ingram Law. She also served for 11-plus years as an assistant United States attorney in the United States Attorneys’ Offices in Nashville and Phoenix.

She earned her juris doctor from Western Michigan University’s Cooley School of Law and holds a degree in English from the University of South Carolina.

Hall’s Trotter wins Tibbetts Award

The U.S. Small Business Administration has selected Abby Trotter, partner at Hall Strategies and executive director of Life Science Tennessee, as a recipient of the 2020 Tibbetts Award.

The SBA recognized Trotter for her role as a “central catalyst for creation of Tennessee’s Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Matching Fund.” This fund, managed by Launch Tennessee and supported by Life Science Tennessee and BioTN, is a tool that bolsters entrepreneurship in the state by matching federal dollars allotted to exciting, job-creating new Tennessee companies.

Through her work with Life Science Tennessee and BioTN, Trotter has advocated for the expansion of the Matching Fund, and in 2019 she helped secure $3 million in dedicated state support for fiscal year 2020. To date, 52 companies have leveraged nearly $24 million federal dollars through the Matching Fund. The Fund offers additional funding for women and minority founders.

The Tibbetts Awards are presented to companies, organizations and individuals who advocate for new or expanded SBIR/STTR programs.

Johnson elected to chair Belmont University Board

R. Milton Johnson, retired HCA Healthcare chairman and CEO, has been elected as the new chair of the Belmont University board of trustees. Johnson will step into a role currently held by retired BellSouth/AT&T-Tennessee executive Marty Dickens, who has led the board since 2005.

Johnson, a 1979 Belmont graduate who serves on the board’s executive committee and chairs the academic affairs committee, will assume the new role June 1.

The transition coincides with the May 2021 retirement of longtime Belmont President Bob Fisher.

A 37-year veteran of HCA Healthcare, Johnson served in various financial and senior management positions for the company that now includes 184 hospitals and 2,000 sites of care located in 21 states and the United Kingdom.

Bridgestone names Ibrahim retail operations president

Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, has named Marko Ibrahim president. With a network of more than 2,200 locations, BSRO operates the world’s largest company-owned network of tire and automotive service centers nationwide under the Firestone Complete Auto Care, Tires Plus, Hibdon Tires Plus and Wheel Works brands.

Ibrahim joined BSRO in February 2018 as vice president of stores and was promoted to senior vice president of stores in 2020. During that time, he was responsible for BSRO store and field operations, worked closely with leadership to deliver strong business results and successfully managed the company through a challenging pandemic year.

In his new role as president, Ibrahim will oversee the total Bridgestone retail business with a focus on driving efficiency, profitability and increased customer count. He will lead BSRO’s 23,000 employees nationwide to serve more than 20 million customers annually and deliver a best-in-class tire and automotive service experience.

Ibrahim previously served as senior vice president of North America retail for Office Depot.

InfoWorks selects Gallagher for CEO

Local consulting firm InfoWorks, Inc. has named Ryan Gallagher as its new CEO. Former CEO and Founder Jim Clayton will remain with InfoWorks as executive chairman of the board.

Gallagher will be responsible for achieving client satisfaction, maintaining employee satisfaction and meeting or exceeding the Board’s revenue and profit goals each year. He will establish and lead four new committees for the Board: Audit, executive compensation, investment and nominating.

Gallagher previously was a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C., where he advised senior-level clients on various critical and strategic issues.

BNA’s Kreulen re-elected president of TAACA

Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, has been re-elected president of the Tennessee Association of Air Carrier Airports following a vote of member airports. MNAA owns and oversees Nashville International Airport and John C. Tune Airport.

TAACA is the trade association for the five commercial airports in Tennessee – Nashville International Airport, Memphis International Airport, Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport, Chattanooga Airport and Tri-Cities Airport. The organization advocates for airport interests and priorities, particularly as they relate to state government, including in both the General Assembly and the executive branch.

Other officers re-elected by TAACA include Patrick Wilson, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, as vice president and Terry Hart, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, as treasurer.

Kreulen joined MNAA in 2012 and was named president & chief executive officer in December 2017.

Barge Designs welcomes Spangler

Ray Spangler has joined Barge Design Solutions, Inc. as chief technology officer.

Spangler joins Barge after 25 years with Verizon Wireless where he has led cross-functional teams in enterprise architecture, resource integration, process automation and network design, including the most recent deployment of 5G.

As CTO at Barge, Spangler will help create a shared technology vision alongside our market and practice leaders, develop and implement strategic technology plans in support of the vision and expand our use of applied technologies both internally and externally.