Ron Snitker has been named the first chief diversity officer at the Nashville-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis.
Snitker will be responsible for overseeing and executing the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy in concert with Waller’s Diversity Committee. This includes internal and external initiatives such as collaborating on recruiting, retention, firm culture, programming, leadership development and community engagement.
Snitker is the former three-term president of the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce. He has led Waller’s financial services industry team as executive director since 2015.
Before joining Waller, Snitker spent nearly 15 years in a variety of roles with UBS, the multinational investment bank and financial services company. Additionally, he co-chaired UBS Pride Americas, an internal employee network developed to help sustain an LGBT-friendly environment.
Snitker served as president of the board of directors of the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce from 2018 through 2020 and received the President’s Award in 2021 for his service to the organization.
He is a graduate of the 2020 Class of Leadership Nashville and the Young Leaders Council, where he was named Young Leader of the Year in 2018. Since 2014 he has been an Advisory Board Member of the MTSU LGBT+ College Conference and a volunteer with several Nashville-area nonprofits since arriving in Nashville in 1995.
Snitker holds dual MBAs from the Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley) and Columbia Business School, as well as a BBA in finance and a BA in music performance from the University of Iowa.
Bradley welcomes associate Szycowski
Adrian A. Szycowski has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as an associate.
Szycowski is a member of the firm’s corporate and securities practice group and focuses his practice on securities, taxation and corporate law. He also works with private investment funds in their formation, operation and investment transactions.
Before Bradley, Szycowski was an associate of a boutique firm in Atlanta. He is an honors graduate of the Emory University School of Law and earned his B.A. from George Washington University.
TBA appoints Hutchison to executive committee
The Tennessee Bar Association’s Construction Law Section recently appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney J. Ross Hutchison to its executive committee.
The TBA Construction Law Section was created to serve the needs of Tennessee attorneys practicing in construction law. The mission of the section is to educate members while serving as an advocate of attorneys in the legislature and the courts. The section hosts annual continuing education programs.
Hutchison’s practice focuses on both litigation and transactional matters within the construction industry. Additionally, Hutchison represents various clients in property and land-use disputes.
He is a member of the American, Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations, the Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel and the Associated General Contractors. He serves on the board of directors for AGC’s Construction Leadership Council.
Dugger named CMO of Live Media Group
Live Media Group Holdings has announced the appointment of media and entertainment industry veteran Nic Dugger as chief marketing officer. He will oversee marketing and communications for the company’s five divisions, including Live Mobile Group, Lyon Video and TNDV.
Dugger founded TNDV in October 2004, and in 15 years grew the company from a single-truck operation to a 10-truck fleet. He developed a full crew of production professionals over that same period, gaining strong brand recognition as a mobile production leader for live television, entertainment, worship and corporate event services throughout the United States. He has continued to lead the TNDV division following LMGH’s acquisition of his company in 2019.
A lifelong broadcast enthusiast, Dugger first gained real-world experience as the student television station manager at Middle Tennessee State University, his alma mater, while also working as a freelance producer for live regional election returns and four Midsouth Regional Emmy Award telecasts. He has since received 14 Emmy Awards for live production, technical achievements and directing at TNDV.
He has recently been appointed as the newest board member with Leadership Music, a Nashville-based national organization active in the music and entertainment industry. He will also continue to serve as president on the broad of directors for the Mid-South chapter of NATAS, and as a volunteer instructor of live multi-camera directing at MTSU.
Leadership Tennessee taps new president, CEO
Leadership Tennessee, the only statewide cross-sector community leadership program, has selected Alfred Degrafinreid II, an experienced leader in public administration and community relations, to serve as its president and chief executive officer, effective July 1.
Degrafinreid, a lifelong Tennessean, brings more than a decade of service in government administration, partnership building and advocacy efforts to this position, working in higher education administration and in the public and private sectors.
Most recently, Degrafinreid served as associate vice chancellor for local government relations and community partnerships at Vanderbilt University, where he oversaw the University’s engagement on a number of local issues, including the facilitation of zoning and land-use matters for the institution. Previously, he served as a senior-level public administrator at the local, state and federal levels of government.
Degrafinreid will succeed Cathy Cate, Leadership Tennessee’s founding executive director and president.
Degrafinreid holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tennessee State University, a juris doctor from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law and is pursuing a Doctor of Education from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. He serves on the boards of the Convention Center Authority of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Rotary Club of Nashville, Alignment Nashville and the Nashville St. Jude Executive Leadership Council.
Spickard is interim dean of Belmont medical school
Dr. Anderson Spickard – special assistant to the president for health, associate dean for spiritual growth and development and professor of internal medicine and clinical educator – has been named interim dean of the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University. Spickard assumes this new role as founding dean as Dr. Bill Bates steps down due to recent health issues.
The Frist College of Medicine has been established in alliance with HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading providers of health care services and one of the College of Medicine’s major clinical affiliates. The Frist College recently earned “Candidate Status” from its accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. This is the next step in the College’s accreditation process and comes with a fall site visit from the LCME.
Spickard will serve for the next year, working closely with the college’s leadership team: Dr. Stephanie McClure, associate dean for faculty and academic affairs and professor of internal/geriatric medicine; Dr. Reuben Bueno, Jr., associate dean for clinical education and professor of surgery; Dr. Karen Lewis, associate dean for student affairs and diversity; and Dr. Marilyn Odom, chair of the department of medical education.
The Frist College of Medicine will be housed in a nearly 200,000-square-foot building, currently under construction near the corner of Wedgewood and 15th Avenues. The facility will be located within a block of Belmont’s Gordan E. Inman Center and McWhorter Hall, home to the University’s well-known health, health sciences and pharmacy programs. The building has been designed to create a fully interdisciplinary educational experience, allowing students in existing programs to work alongside aspiring MDs, emulating modern clinical settings.
Belmont will launch a national search this fall with the intent to have a long-term dean for the Frist College of Medicine appointed and on board by next summer.
Ward, Oglesby promoted at Graham
Graham Healthcare Capital has promoted Jim Ward to managing director and Michele Oglesby to senior operating partner of the Nashville-based health care firm.
Both had previously served as vice presidents of the company. In addition to her position as senior operating partner, Oglesby has served as the interim CEO of Clarus, the company’s SaaS call management platform.
Ward came to GHCC in 2018 and has more than 15 years of experience as a financial manager, investment banker and adviser to middle-market companies. His experience includes membership at 2nd Generation Capital, LLC, where he spent much of his time advising small enterprises on financial strategy, helping clients raise debt or equity capital, and developing relationships with private equity, mezzanine and debt capital providers throughout the country.
He also founded Southeast Acquisition Capital, a company designed to facilitate business ownership transition in the Southeast.
Oglesby brings two decades of expertise in organizational growth and a proven track record in driving profitability in health care. She joined the Graham Healthcare Capital team in 2021 as the vice president of strategic initiatives. She serves as an adviser to the portfolio companies on strategy, executive talent acquisition, and driving performance metrics to ensure successful transition to meet company goals.
Previously, Oglesby served as the chief operation and compliance officer for Bridge Connector, which delivered integration solutions for health care organizations.
Ward is a graduate of Princeton University and the MBA program at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management. He is treasurer of the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG) Tennessee.
Oglesby holds a Master of Management in Health Care from Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management, as well as a Master of Health Services Administration and a BS in biology from Austin Peay State University. She volunteers in nonprofit initiatives to improve communities and serves as an adviser for Project Healthcare at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.