Jack L. Wood, chairman emeritus of architecture and engineering firm Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, Inc. (BWSC), has been honored by the Nashville Downtown Partnership as its 2011 Volunteer of the Year.

Wood, who served as CEO of BWSC from 1989 to 2002, was board chairman of the Nashville Downtown Partnership in 1998. In 2002, he played a key role in developing a successful public-private partnership between Metro Government and the Downtown Partnership for the management of metro parking facilities and expanding the LP Field parking option. He encouraged the Partnership to undertake this new venture and has remained a strong advocate for the parking and shuttle programs.

Wood continues to serve as chairman of the Access and Transportation Committee of the Downtown Partnership, and was cited for his service as a board member at the Adventure Science Center.

Belcourt names new coordinator, board

Belcourt Theatre has added Allison Inman as education and engagement coordinator, a newly created, part-time position, and named new board members for 2011-’12.

As education and engagement coordinator, Allison Inman will plan and coordinate education and community engagement activities for the theatre. Inman will develop education initiatives; work with local educational and social service institutions to develop meaningful partnerships, and more.

New board members for 2011-2012 are: Kay Clary, BMI; Donna Drehmann, Asurion Insurance Services; Monica Mackie, Tennessee Bar Association; Scott Manzler, retired; Laray Mayfield McCoy Films, Inc.; Linda Nishida, Whole Foods Market, Nashville; Van Pond, Van Pond Architect; Georges Sulmers, Outback Concerts; Connie Linsler Valentine, Nashville Arts and Business Council.

Sherrard & Roe places 15 on Best Lawyers list

Fifteen attorneys at Sherrard & Roe PLC are listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012. The 15 attorneys represent almost half of the lawyers at Sherrard & Roe, and the majority of the 15 attorneys are listed in multiple practice categories.

Those 15 are Thomas J. Sherrard III, John H. Roe Jr., William L. Harbison, Michel G. Kaplan, John R. Voigt, Andrée S. Blumstein, Kim A. Brown, L. Webb Campbell II, C. Mark Carver, Christopher C. Whitson, Samuel P. Funk, Elizabeth E. Moore, Tracy A. Powell, Michael D. Roberts and Carla Lovell. Kaplan has been included since 1983; Sherrard since 1987, and Voigt since 1991.

Elephant Sanctuary adds three directors

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announced the addition of three directors to its management team, each of them employed in newly-created positions. They are Dr. Susan Mikota, director of veterinary care; Steve Smith, director of elephant husbandry; and Joe Rizzo, director of facilities development.

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is the nation’s largest habitat for needy, old and/or sick Asian and African elephants, and provides a spacious and rich natural environment in which captive elephants – typically retired from circuses and zoos – can spend their remaining years in peace. In addition to the home it provides for its elephants, The Sanctuary’s mission includes the advancement of methods of humane management and care of resident elephants, and an international education program to raise awareness of the needs of elephants both in captivity and in the wild.

Waddey & Patterson welcomes associate

Attorney Mark A. Pitchford has joined law firm Waddey & Patterson, P.C. as an associate. Pitchford, who is a registered patent attorney, focuses his practice on the preparation and prosecution of U.S., foreign and international patent applications in the electrical, software and mechanical fields.

Pitchford was previously an associate attorney at Armstrong Teasdale, LLP in St. Louis. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Kentucky in 2001 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He received the Bluegrass Presidential Scholarship, the College of Engineering Academic Scholarship, and the Rotarian International Scholarship, and was inducted into Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society.

Pitchford received his J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 2005, where he received the Ross Harris Scholarship and the CALI Award in Advanced Torts: Products Liability.

Baker Donelson adds 8 new attorneys

The Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, has announced the addition of eight new associate attorneys, expanding several practice areas including Labor & Employment, Litigation, Tax, Securities and Intellectual Property. The new attorneys are Bradley M. Bakker, Joy A. Boyd, April R. Heidt, Christopher D. LaLonde, Elizabeth B. McCostlin, Daniel A. Stephenson, Megan Sutton and Maia T. Woodhouse.

Bakker joins the firm as an associate in the Labor & Employment group. He is a 2007 cum laude graduate of the New York University School of Law.

Boyd, a 2005 cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, joins the Business Litigation group. She previously served as an assistant district attorney in the Seventh Judicial District in Alabama.

Heidt works with the Securities and Corporate Governance group. She is a 2011 honors graduate of the George Washington University Law School.

LaLonde, an associate in the Real Estate group, is a 2009 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School. He also is a licensed real estate broker.

McCostlin, an associate in the Advocacy department, is a 2010 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Stephenson, Tax department, is a 2010 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and received his LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law in 2011.

Sutton, a 2010 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, works in the Labor & Employment group.

Woodhouse is part of the Intellectual Property group and is a 2010 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School.

Educational consulting firm expands staff

Industry veterans Sue Crowell and Kim Maphis Early have joined EduPlanners.

Crowell and Maphis Early have more than 50 years of experience in helping students and families find the right options, from college choices to therapeutic programs.

As director of educational and therapeutic needs for EduPlanners, Crowell works with families to address their student’s particular challenges, from substance abuse and depression to ADHD and mental and physical issues. She is certified by Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), a national organization which sets the standard for educational consulting.

Assisting with college preparation and planning, Maphis Early has served in diverse roles in higher education, including director of admissions and student services, academic dean, and chair of an admissions committee. Maphis Early uses her in-depth understanding of the college admissions process to assist students as they explore options and navigate the application process.

VUMC’s Pao to lead hematology, oncology

William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine and director of Personalized Cancer Medicine at Vanderbilt, has been named director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Medicine.

Pao completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University and his medical and graduate education at Yale University before completing residency training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill-Cornell School of Medicine.

Pao is co-founder, with Mia Levy, M.D., of MyCancerGenome, an online tool to enable a genetically informed approach to cancer medicine. He serves on the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Review of Omics-based Tests for Predicting Patient Outcomes in Clinical Trials. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Zhang lands award from NIH

Qi Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received major funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new class of “nano-probes” that may help solve long-standing puzzles about how the brain works.

Zhang is one of 49 researchers nationwide to win a 2011 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. He will receive $1.5 million in direct costs to support his research over five years.

The New Innovator Awards and their companion Pioneer and Transformative Research Projects awards are given out each year by the NIH Common Fund “to catalyze giant leaps forward” in biomedical research and the betterment of human health, NIH officials said.

Zhang is the third Vanderbilt scientist to receive a New Innovator Award.

Mintel joins Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC (LBMC), one of the Southeast’s largest accounting and business consulting firms, has added Lisa Acuff Mintel in its Nashville office.

Mintel, a Certified Public Accountant, has joined the accounting firm as a senior accountant in the tax services group.

Previously, Mintel was an auditor with the Tennessee Department of Labor. She has five years of public accounting experience in the healthcare and construction industries, as well as with high-wealth individuals. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.

Zeitlin brokers earn staging designation

Lynne Wallman and Mara Thompson, affiliate Brokers in the Green Hills office of Zeitlin & Co., Realtors, recently earned the Accredited Staging Professional® (ASP) designation.

Awarded by StagedHomes.com, an educational institution for the home staging industry, the ASP designation indicates extensive training and high scores on home staging exams.

Haraseviat joins Fifth Third mortgage

Denise Haraseviat has joined Fifth Third as a mortgage area sales manager.

She was previously at Bank of America Home Loans and Wells Fargo, and has 30 years of experience in mortgages and banking.