Meacham

Acclaimed presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning Nashvillian Jon Meacham will receive the 2015 Nashville Public Library Literary Award and will join Nashville’s own American history buff and country performer Tim McGraw for a free public lecture and conversation on Dec. 7.

Meacham is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.” His latest book, “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” chronicles the life of the 41st president of the United States and will be published by Penguin Random House next month.

“Nashville is at its prime when we show off our local treasures,” Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said. “Music City is full of passionate storytellers, and Jon Meacham is one of our very best. By honoring him, we honor our award-winning library’s dedication to literacy for everyone in our city.”

Meacham is executive vice president and executive editor at Penguin Random House, a former editor-in-chief of Newsweek and a contributing editor to Time Magazine.

“American Lion” was a New York Times best-seller and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 2009. He has written three other New York Times best-sellers, including “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power,” “Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship,” and “American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers and the Making of a Nation.”

Meacham was born in Chattanooga and is a graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South. He teaches there, as well as at Vanderbilt. He is a former editor of The Washington Monthly and began his career at The Chattanooga Times.

Chase named chair-elect of Entrepreneur Center

Chase

Beth R. Chase, founder and CEO of C3 Consulting, has been named Chairman-Elect of the Entrepreneur Center, effective January 2016.

Chase and her firm, c3/consulting, advise Fortune 1000 and growth companies in planning and delivering transformational change.

Chase is an active community leader with involvements in the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Nashville Healthcare Council, Leadership Nashville, Community Foundation and YWCA among other organizations.

Chase will serve as chair-elect through the year of 2016 and then become chairman, effective January of 2017.

New board members, effective January 2016 include.

Jason Epstein is a business attorney and partner in the Nashville office of Nelson Mullins. He also is the co-head of the Technology and Procurement Industry Group for the Nelson Mullins.

Jose Gonzalez is an instructor of entrepreneurship and management at Belmont University and a co-founder of Conexion Americas. His focus is in social entrepreneurship and economic development and entrepreneurship, and he currently works with a project on fair trade and other economic development programs in Guatemala.

Angela Humphreys is a member at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC and chair of the firm’s health care practice.

Janet Miller is CEO and market leader, Nashville, for Colliers International. Prior to Colliers, Miller served as the chief economic development officer for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for 21 years.

Chris Sloan, shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, is chair of the firm’s emerging companies group and focuses his practice on start-ups and other emerging businesses and also handles complex software and other IT transactions. He is actively involved in the Nashville Technology Council.

Yiaway Yeh is the Google Fiber expansion lead for new initiatives. He is a former co-chief innovation officer, Nashville and Davidson County Metro Government, which included supporting Nashville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Yeh is a former mayor and city councilmember of Palo Alto, California.

In addition to these new board members, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center is adding two ex-officio board seats to include one representative from the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance and one representative from the Music City Music Council.

UT graduate joins Stites & Harbison

Goins

Ashley Goins has joined Stites & Harbison, PLLC and is practicing in the firm’s Domestic Relations and Business Litigation Service Groups.

At the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she graduated in 2015, she was a student advisor, a student ambassador, and was the fundraising chair for both UT Pro Bono and CASA’s VOLunteers.

Goins spent much of her time serving as a student attorney in the Advocacy Clinic, the Domestic Violence Clinic and the Education Practicum. She also participated in the 2013 Advocates’ Prize Moot Court Competition and was a member of the 2015 Entertainment Law Moot Court team. In 2015, she was published in The Forum: A Tennessee Student Legal Journal.

Goins joined Stites & Harbison after participating in the firm’s summer associate program in 2014. Her past experience also includes interning for the Tennessee District Attorney’s Office, 7th Judicial District; the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services; and the Shelby County [Ohio] Public Defender’s Office.

GSR&M welcomes new associate Williamson

Williamson

The law firm of Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC has hired attorney Sallie S. Williamson to the firm.

Williamson will practice in the firm’s real estate section as an associate. She previously served as an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP in Los Angeles.

She earned her law degree from the University of Southern California Law School in 2013 and her undergraduate degree from Boston College in 2009.

Attorney Kolb joins SoBro Law Group

Kolb

SoBro Law Group has hired attorney

Hannah A. Kolb, who brings expertise in secured transactions within the commercial finance sector. Kolb will lead the group’s commercial banking and Small Business Administration loan practice area and handle corporate legal matters of all types.

Kolb earned her juris doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2010, graduating with high honors and serving as an editor of the school’s law review. Most recently, she practiced with Rudy, Wood & Winstead, PLLC, of Nashville, serving business and financial entities within Nashville and across middle Tennessee.

Tuck Hinton architects earn certification

Webb

Ivan Vanchev and Virginia “Ginny” Webb of Tuck-Hinton Architects have completed their architectural registration exams and are now registered architects.

Since joining Tuck Hinton Architects, Webb has worked on the design of the Lipscomb Academy’s McCadams Athletic Center and Waverly-Belmont Elementary School, as well as several additional projects at Lipscomb University. Webb has specific experience in the institutional and education sectors and is committed to exploring innovative design techniques and sustainable solutions.

Webb was previously an intern architect with SHW Group/Stantec in Charlottesville, Virginia. She holds a degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and earned a master’s of architecture at Virginia Tech in 2012. She is a member of AIA.

Vanchev

Since joining Tuck Hinton Architects in 2014, Vanchev has been working on a 100,000-square-foot office building on Music Row that will be home to SESAC, as well as the County Music Association.

Vanchev was previously an intern architect at Artech Design Group in Chattanooga. He is a 2012 graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor of architecture. He earned a master of integrated design and construction at Auburn University in 2013.

Vanchev was born in Haskovo, Bulgaria, and moved to the United States in 2004.

WSMV meteorologist receives top honor

Spencer

Lisa Spencer, chief meteorologist at WSMV-TV, has received the National Weather Association’s 2015 NWA Broadcaster of the Year Award. The award recognizes broadcasters who deliver critical weather forecasts and warnings and contribute significantly to the presentation of weather information to the public.

Spencer also has won the national Broadcast Meteorology Award from the American Meteorology Association, and eight regional Emmy awards.

Andrews Agency hires three new employees

Newby

Alex Newby has joined the Andrews Agency as an account executive, Savanna Howie as an associate account executive and Heather Whiteside as account services associate. Their client work includes tourism, real estate, restaurant and retail industries.

Previously, Newby served as account executive at the Bradford Group where she worked with clients in the health, insurance and non-profit sectors.

Howie

Originally from Lexington, Ky., she was a communications assistant at the Kentucky Arts Council before moving to Nashville in 2014.

Whiteside

She holds a degree in integrated strategic communications from the University of Kentucky.

Howie, a Nashville native, is a recent graduate of University of Tennessee-Knoxville with degrees in communication studies and political science. She previously spent two years at Knoxville PR firm Moxley Carmichael.

Whiteside is a recent University of Alabama graduate with a degree in communication & information sciences. Before joining The Andrews Agency, Whiteside assisted in the planning of marketing strategies to help increase economic development for Huntsville’s tourism industry at the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Creech to lead VU’s vaccination research

Creech

Buddy Creech, M.D., MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, has been named director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

In his role as director of the VVRP, Creech will serve as principal investigator for the Vanderbilt Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit and oversee VVRP activities. VVRP is home to the NIH-funded VTEU, one of nine in the U.S.

The VTEUs, in existence since the 1950s, are frequently called upon to evaluate high-profile vaccine candidates, such as those targeting malaria, smallpox and pertussis. The VTEU system is also a vital component of pandemic influenza preparedness, conducting pivotal studies of seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines. During the 2009 pandemic, unit investigators tested the new influenza A/H1N1 vaccine in individuals of all ages.

Creech succeeds Dr. Kathryn Edwards, who will continue to serve as scientific director of the VVRP.