Bass, Berry & Sims has appointed five attorneys across its offices in Memphis, Nashville and Washington, D.C. to serve in the following leadership roles:

• Paul G. Jennings (Nashville) and Michael C. Gibson (Washington, D.C.) have been elected to the firm’s executive committee.

• Richard R. Spore, III (Memphis) has been appointed chair of the Real Estate & Debt Finance Practice Group, succeeding Cindy N. Sellers (Nashville), who served in this role for eight years.

• Lauren Gaffney (Nashville) has been selected to serve as the new entry level hiring partner, succeeding Shelley R. Thomas (Nashville), who served in the role for the last three years.

• Lara A. Flatau (Nashville) has been selected to serve as the new working parents committee chair. Flatau succeeds Leslie M. Ford (Nashville), who previously served in the role.

Jennings has for more than 30 years represented creditors, debtors, committees and trustees providing counsel and solutions for clients faced with a financially troubled company. Jennings was a participant in the inaugural class of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s bankruptcy mediation training program at St. John’s University’s Carey Center for Dispute Resolution and often mediates bankruptcy and insolvency related matters. Jennings previously served on the firm’s executive committee and as chair of the firm’s litigation practice group.

Gibson represents companies, developers and investors in commercial real estate acquisitions and dispositions, leasing and financing matters. Before joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Gibson was a partner in the real estate and finance group at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.

Gaffney leads intern and first-year associate recruiting across the firm’s footprint, including coordinating efforts between the Executive Committee, diversity & inclusion leadership, and the firm’s law school partnership programs to identify top talent around the country for the firm’s broad range of practice areas. Additionally, she co-chairs the firm’s Pride Affinity Group.

Flatau will lead the committee’s efforts to cultivate an environment in which parenting obligations and roles are highly valued alongside one’s professional abilities and aspirations. This includes creating mentorship opportunities to help working parents of all genders navigate situations, challenges and opportunities unique to their experiences, as well as fostering ongoing dialogue with firm leadership to generate innovative solutions, policies and practices that impact working parents.

Burr & Forman names 6 partners, 2 in Nashville

Burr & Forman has announced the election of six attorneys to partnership across five offices, including Sam Morris and Renee Rayne in Nashville.

Morris is a member of the Financial Services Litigation Practice Group. He represents banks, credit card companies, mortgage lenders, auto finance companies and other financial institutions in consumer lawsuits involving federal and state laws, including the Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.

Rayne is a member of the Health Care Practice Group, where she focuses on the representation of public hospitals, private hospitals and physician groups in regulatory and transactional matters, particularly related to Medicaid participation and reimbursement.

Business Roundtable names 2023 board leaders

The Tennessee Business Roundtable has elected and appointed 11 member-company executives from across Tennessee as directors, including six from Nashville, joining four others previously elected to comprise the Roundtable’s board of directors for 2023.

The Roundtable membership elected five member executives to serve as board directors:

• Chair-Elect: David A. Pickler, president & CEO, Pickler Wealth Advisors, Collierville

• Secretary: M. Edward Jett, CEO, MBI Companies Inc., Knoxville

• Treasurer: Jim Schmitz, market leader, Elliott Davis LLC, Nashville

• General Counsel: William A. “Zan” Blue, Jr., office head, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP, Nashville

• Regional V.P.-West TN: Nassar Nassar, Ph.D., president & CEO, Savant Learning Systems, Martin

The Roundtable’s executive committee approved 2023 chairman Mike Harrell’s appointments of six senior state business leaders to serve the Roundtable’s membership and Tennessee’s business community in these key roles for 2023:

• Competitiveness Council Chair: Matt Haskell, partner, Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC, Nashville

• Education Council Chair: Charles W. Cagle, shareholder, Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C., Nashville

• Health Council Chair: Nancy Anness, chief advocacy officer, Ascension Saint Thomas, Nashville

• Workforce Council Chair: Chris Snow, SVP & chief talent officer, American Residential Services LLC, Memphis

• At-Large Director: Dakasha Winton, chief government relations officer, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Chattanooga

• At-Large Director: Colton Mulligan, CEO, FoxFuel Creative, Nashville

The 11 newly-elected and -appointed Directors join four others elected previously by the Roundtable membership as Board leaders serving the Roundtable in 2023. They are:

• Chair: Mike Harrell, principal, Latitude Advisors LLC, Chattanooga

• Immediate Past Chair: Dr. Keith Norman, vice president/chief government affairs and community relations officer, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., Memphis

• Regional vice president-Middle TN: Stephen L. Wilson, CEO E&I Mid-South, UnitedHealthcare, Brentwood

• Regional vice president-East TN: Jordan Mollenhour, co-CEO, Mollenhour Gross LLC, Knoxville.

Belmont names Magee VP of Strategic Ops

Belmont has named Edward “Ed” Magee vice president for strategic operations, a new role that will be responsible for connecting the work of major university initiatives including the Belmont Data Collaborative, Belmont Innovation Labs, Story Studio and the Office of Educational Innovation.

Magee, whose role begins Feb. 13, also will serve as executive-in-residence for the Massey College of Business, where he will provide teaching and leadership across a variety of college areas including degree programs.

Magee most recently served as the executive vice president of operations at Fender, the musical instruments company. Before Fender, he was a senior executive at Harley-Davidson.

Magee holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, a master’s of public administration from George Mason University and a degree in Mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Bridgestone names director of philanthropy, social impact

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. has named Wade Munday as its new director of corporate philanthropy and social impact.

In this newly created position, he will be responsible for advancing and directing the strategy and execution of philanthropic and social programs at Bridgestone that align with the company’s mission and values, including sustainability, DE&I and stakeholder engagement. Munday will manage the operations of the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund, corporate philanthropy and workplace giving.

Munday joins Bridgestone with 15 years of experience working with nonprofits, corporate trusts and government-affiliated organizations. He most recently served as co-director of The Addis Clinic, a nonprofit focused on extending access to health care in communities throughout Africa.

A lifelong resident of Nashville, Munday he holds a degree from Trevecca Nazarene University and a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Airport Authority names new officers

The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, which owns and operates Nashville International Airport and John C. Tune Airport, has announced the election of officers for its board of commissioners: Joycelyn Stevenson, board chair; James W. Granbery, vice-chair; Andrew W. Byrd Secretary.

The seven-member board of commissioners, appointed by the Nashville mayor and confirmed by Metro Council, governs and sets policies for the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. The Board is composed of three business and finance representatives, two pilot representatives, one engineering representative and one legal representative. In addition, Robert J. Joslin, William H. Freeman, Nancy Sullivan and Dr. Glenda Glover serve as commissioners.