Cumberland Trust, an independent trust company, has named Jennie Menzie president and elected her to its board of directors. Menzie will serve as president, chief operating officer and corporate counsel.

The former president, Joseph K. “Pepe” Presley, will continue to serve in his role as chairman of the board and CEO. This leadership transition comes as Cumberland Trust marks 20 years in service guiding families through the wealth transfer process in Tennessee and beyond.

Menzie joined Cumberland Trust in 2012 and has served as chief operating officer and corporate counsel since 2019. She will manage all day-to-day operations while driving the company’s vision for the future.

She previously served as vice president at Thompson & Associates, as assistant general counsel of WebMD Envoy, senior tax consultant at Arthur Andersen and practicing attorney at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis.

Rue joins Patterson Intellectual Property Law

Patterson Intellectual Property Law has added David Rue as the firm’s chief operating officer. Rue, an attorney, entrepreneur and law firm strategist, will focus on the firm’s operations and strategic development.

Rue most recently served as founder of Realize Legal Consulting, chief revenue officer of The Concinnity Company. He also held several positions at Bass, Berry & Sims, including managing director and chief strategy officer.

Rue is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and the J. David Rosenberg College of Law at the University of Kentucky.

Stites & Harbison welcomes Burnley

Stites & Harbison, PLLC, has welcomed attorney Johnathan D. Burnley to the firm’s Nashville and Franklin offices and to its Business Litigation Service Group. His practice will focus on creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, employment law and general business litigation.

Burnley previously was a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Jon A. York and the Hon. J. Daniel Breen, with the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Burnley earned his J.D. from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

Lavender tapped for NCVC board chair

Banking executive Kevin Lavender has been named chairman of the board at the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, leading a board of directors representing sectors from both within and outside the hospitality industry to guide its rebound as a key economic generator for the city and state.

Lavender, who is head of commercial banking at Fifth Third Bank, will serve on the NCVC executive committee for fiscal year 2022, along with Maneet Chauhan, executive chef and partner at Morph Hospitality, as chair elect; Robert Fisher, past president at Belmont University, as immediate past chair; Marcus Whitney, CEO and co-founder of Health:Further, as finance and audit committee chair; and Ellen Pryor, Frist Museum’s director of communications, as sales and marketing committee chair.

Cooper selects Flannery for Metro finance director

Mayor John Cooper has nominated Kelly Flannery for Metro finance director.

Flannery will meet with Metro Council’s Rules, Confirmations and Public Elections committee before going before the full Council for confirmation in October.

As chief financial officer for Charlotte, North Carolina, Flannery directed the city’s day-to-day financial operations and oversaw the accounting of all funds, with a net position of more than $11.5 billion. She managed a $4 billion debt portfolio, as well as the investment program of Charlotte’s employee benefit trust plan.

She also served as deputy chief financial officer, assistant budget director and senior fiscal policy analyst for Chicago. She began her career as a senior municipal bond analyst (2000-2008) with Mergent, Inc., a global financial information services company.

Flannery holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, where she is a member of the advisory board for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

President Biden appoints Winkfield to cancer Board

President Joe Biden has appointed Karen Winkfield, M.D., Ph.D., to the National Cancer Advisory Board, where she will serve a six-year term and help guide federal initiatives that focus on cancer.

The board advises the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the director of the National Cancer Institute on strategies to address the causes, diagnoses, prevention and treatment of cancers as well as continuing care and rehabilitation services for cancer patients and their families.

Winkfield is the executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, professor of Radiation Oncology and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College.

She joins Scott Hiebert, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry and Hortense B. Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt, on the 18-member board. Hiebert, the board’s acting chair, was appointed to his term by President Barack Obama in 2016. The six-year terms overlap.

Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., executive vice president for research at VUMC and director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, is an alumna of the board. She was appointed to her term by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Winkfield earned her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and her medical and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University. She completed her residency training at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston.

Nationally, she is co-founder and director of the Association of Black Radiation Oncologists and served as chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Health Disparities Committee from 2016-2017. In 2016, she led a task force focused on improving racial/ethnic diversity in the oncologic workforce that culminated in the development of ASCO’s strategic plan for workforce diversity published in 2017 with Winkfield as lead author.

Samuels selected as Dell site director

Dell Technologies, has appointed Shoshana Samuels as site director for Nashville. Samuels takes over the day-to-day responsibilities of leading the company’s local campus alongside Henry Pile and will also be responsible for directing many of its community initiatives with longstanding nonprofit partners such as Oasis Center and Second Harvest Food Bank.

Samuels began her career at Dell 15 years ago as a sales representative supporting small businesses, working her way up to senior sales manager.

Samuels sits on the board of directors for Renewal House, a nonprofit that provides affordable recovery housing for women and their children.

Bangert named VP at First Horizon Bank

First Horizon Bank has hired Evan Bangert as vice president and relationship manager with the commercial banking team. Bangert will be based at First Horizon’s downtown office.

With more than 12 years of banking experience, Bangert is dedicated to serving core commercial and middle market companies in the Middle Tennessee region. He is responsible for managing client relationships and new business development.

Bangert is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of California.

Political analyst Johnson joins Stones River Group

Don Johnson, a veteran of two gubernatorial staffs and a political analyst, is joining Stones River Group as principal effective Oct. 1.

Johnson will lead Stones River Group’s research and reporting efforts, providing ongoing updates on legislation, fundraising and political campaigns and need-to-know actions of the administration and General Assembly.

Most recently, Johnson served as director of constituent services and community relations for Gov. Bill Lee, a position he also held for Gov. Bill Haslam 2012-19. Before joining the Haslam Administration, Johnson served as a field representative for then-Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn when she represented Tennessee’s 7th congressional district. He has also been the executive director of the Republican Party of Shelby County, and previously worked for the Tennessee Republican Party. A Shelby County native, Johnson studied nonprofit management at the University of Memphis.

Dalton honored at UT Alumni Awards Gala

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings attorney Alé Dalton was honored recently with the Alumni Promise Award at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Alumni Awards Gala.

The award recognizes alumni younger than 40 who have demonstrated distinctive achievement in a career, civic involvement or both. The award honors alumni who are rising stars and have made an impact early in their career.

Dalton is a member of Bradley’s Healthcare Practice Group and counsels her clients during mergers and acquisitions and guides them through issues that arise from the complex nature of operating in a highly regulated industry. She is actively involved in Bradley’s pro bono efforts and in serving local community legal clinics and is vice chair of Bradley’s Lawyers of Color Resource Group. She was recently recognized with Bradley’s 2021 Cameron J. Miller Award for Excellence and Community Service.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Dalton is a member of the school’s Alumni Council.

Cumberland taps Wheeler as VP for advancement

Courtney Wheeler has been hired by Cumberland University as the vice president for advancement.

Wheeler spent the past 20 years working in government, nonprofit and electoral campaigns in various capacities, including fundraising, communications, digital, organizing, engaging, research and platform development.

Wheeler graduated from Texas State University with a degree in political science and later graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law.

Druffel named director of Nashville State program

Nashville State Community College has hired Thom Druffel as director of the school’s hospitality program. Druffel, who also will be an instructor, has nearly 40 years of experience in the local hospitality industry.

Druffel has for the past 19 years been general manager at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt. He has also served as the vice president of operations for Prime Hospitality. From 1981 to 1999, Druffel was with Marriott, having served from 1994 to 1997 as regional vice president of Residence Inn by Marriott, Southeast, overseeing 32 hotels.

Druffel earned a degree in hospitality management from Florida State University and an MBA from California State Long Beach.