National plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, has hired Wesley J. Dozier for its Nashville office.

In addition to working on poisoned municipal water cases in Jackson, Mississippi, and Benton Harbor, Michigan, Dozier will also contribute to the firm’s copyright infringement lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft regarding alleged illegal use of artificial intelligence in the publishing industry on behalf of bestselling authors John Grisham, George R.R. Martin and Jodi Picoult, among many others.

Wesley previously was in private practice in Nashville and also worked with Nashville nonprofit Choosing Justice Initiative.

Dozier is a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he won the Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Prize and the Damali A. Booker Award. In 2021, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services awarded Wesley its “Access to Justice New Advocate Award of the Year.”

CBRE names Goodwin state market leader

CBRE has promoted Elizabeth Goodwin to senior managing director and market leader for Tennessee.

Goodwin will oversee all advisory services lines of business in the state, including leasing, sales, debt and structured finance, valuation and property management. She will lead CBRE’s offices in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

Goodwin joined CBRE in 2019 and most recently served as managing director, co-leading the company’s Tennessee business alongside senior managing director Stephen Kulinski and Memphis managing director Frank Quinn. Before that, she served as director of project management, overseeing the growth and performance of the business line in Tennessee.

She is a board member and vice president with NAIOP’s Nashville chapter and a trustee of Battle Ground Academy, her alma mater. Goodwin also is a member of ULI, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce. She previously held positions on boards and committees with Go Build Tennessee, ACE Nashville, American Heart Association, PULSE and Williamson, Inc.

She holds a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University in civil engineering with a concentration in construction management.

VU’s Schmidt approved for DOD director post

Vanderbilt Professor Douglas Schmidt has been confirmed to become director of operational test and evaluation for the Department of Defense following a full vote by the U.S. Senate.

An internationally renowned computer scientist, Schmidt’s professional involvement with national security spans four decades, marked by extensive work in researching, developing and testing military systems.

Schmidt’s experience includes evaluating software product lines for mission computing systems in military fighters and leading mission-critical technology projects for the Navy and Air Force as a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

From 2010 to 2014, he served as vice chair of a study on cyber situational awareness for Air Force mission operations as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

He is a Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering (computer science), associate provost of research and Data Science Institute co-director at Vanderbilt. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology from the College of William and Mary and an master’s and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Irvine.

Former vice mayor now is new Cumberland dean

Former Nashville Vice Mayor Jim Shulman has been named interim dean of the Labry School of Science, Technology and Business at Cumberland University.

Shulman, who served as Nashville’s vice mayor 2018-2023, was previously an at-large Council member and the Council representative for District 25. He joined Cumberland’s faculty a year ago as an assistant professor teaching in the area of political science.

Shulman succeeds Chris Fuller, who has accepted a new position at the university as a data scientist and professor of mathematics and computer science.

Shulman, a Middle Tennessee resident for more than 40 years, has held a number of administrative positions in state government, including serving as executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, chief of staff to Tennessee Speaker of the House and legal counsel for the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration.

Wilson Bank & Trust names Hawkins CFO

Wilson Bank & Trust has officially promoted Kayla Hawkins to executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective March 4.

Hawkins, a Lebanon native, previously served in the role of senior vice president, reporting manager for WBT and has been with the bank for more than 12 years. She previously worked in public accounting at Kraft CPAs where she performed audits of financial institutions and manufacturing facilities.

She is a graduate holds an accounting degree from Middle Tennessee State University and is a graduate of the Southeastern School of Banking and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.

Community Resource Center hires development director

The Community Resource Center has hired Kathryn Bennett as director of development.

Bennett previously served senior campaign manager at the Nashville Ballet, where she created social and affinity groups for donors and patrons in addition to raising essential dollars for the organization’s annual fund. She also was the GivingMatters.com manager for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for six years, maintaining a database of 1,900+ Middle Tennessee nonprofits that funders and community members could use to make informed decisions about their giving.

Bennett is a graduate of Emerson College, where she earned a degree in communications and journalism.

Pathway Lending names Bird chief financial officer

Pathway Lending has selected Richard Bird as chief financial officer, following former CFO Barbara Harris’ retirement.

Bird brings a wealth of financial leadership and expertise to his new role as chief financial officer at Pathway Lending. With a career spanning four decades, Bird joined Pathway Lending in September 2018 as senior vice president of finance. Bird was promoted to chief accounting officer in April 2023, assuming responsibility for Pathway’s finance and accounting systems and processes in close collaboration with the CFO.

Bird began his career in internal audit at Bank of America. After 15 years, he moved into corporate accounting and compliance at various regional banks, including Synovus where he was the director of finance for the Tennessee region. He then joined Franklin Synergy Bank in 2013 as the corporate risk officer where he also served as senior vice president of finance.

He holds a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Rhodes College in Memphis. He is a licensed certified public accountant and a member of the Tennessee Society of CPAs. He has served on the boards of both the Tennessee Conservation Voters and Nashville CARES as treasurer.

REED announces team promotions

REED, a public relations and marketing agency, has promoted two team members, Hannah Sharp and Brook Farrell. Sharp has been promoted to senior account manager, and Brook Farrell has been promoted to senior account coordinator.

Sharp joined REED two years ago as an account manager after gaining experience locally at Legacy Consulting, PR & Events. She holds a degree in visual design and communications from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Farrell joined REED in late 2022 after completing the company’s inaugural account coordinator training program. She is a graduate of Auburn University with a degree in public relations.