Elta Breen and Woods Drinkwater have joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as senior attorneys in the Nashville office.
Breen is a member of the firm’s health care practice group and previously worked for multiple Tennessee state agencies.
As an associate counsel for the Tennessee Department of Health, she advised health professional licensing boards, conducted bill analysis for the department, and prosecuted administrative law cases on behalf of the state. She also served as an administrative judge for the Division of TennCare, presiding over Medicaid eligibility appeal hearings.
Breen earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School and her B.A. from Cornell University.
Drinkwater joins as a member of Bradley’s real estate practice group. He concentrates his practice in the area of commercial real estate transactions, leasing, land development, and land and zoning. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America since 2021, and in 2023 was recognized as a Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands.
He earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Loyola University. He served two years as a law clerk for the Hon. Joe P. Binkley in the Fifth Circuit Court in the 20th Judicial District of Tennessee.
Liska named president of Vanderbilt Hospital
Lee Ann Liska, MBA, chief operating officer and interim hospital president of Vanderbilt University Hospital, has been chosen to serve as the hospital’s president.
Liska joined VUMC as COO in the Fall of 2020. She succeeds Shon Dwyer, MBA, RN. As the hospital’s president, she will report to C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., deputy chief executive officer and chief health system officer for VUMC.
Liska is a veteran of the health care industry with extensive experience in health systems management. Her experience spans hospital operations, physician practice management and ambulatory services in several academic and community health systems throughout the Midwest and South.
Before joining VUMC, she worked in Florida, Georgia and Ohio with large health systems.
A native of Ohio, Liska earned her executive MBA from Cleveland State University, where she also earned a degree in communication from. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and served as chair of the ACHE CEO Committee.
PR veteran Jurkovich joins Calvert Street
Nashville-based public affairs firm Calvert Street Group has added former Nashville mayoral staffer and Metro Nashville Airport Authority executive Tom Jurkovich as a senior director.
Jurkovich most recently served a two-year assignment as senior adviser for public affairs in the office of Nashville Mayor John Cooper and assisted with the transition of new Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Jurkovich was vice president of communications and public affairs at Nashville International Airport, where he directed the team responsible for BNA’s communications, media, public relations and government affairs.
He previously was director of Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell’s Office of Economic and Community Development, where he served as the liaison to the business community and the city’s chief corporate recruiter.
Jurkovich began his career as a litigator in Houston before serving in an array of political and communications roles in Washington, DC. He served as staff director for the House Administration Committee, deputy assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, national field director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and government relations director at Microsoft Corporation before returning to Nashville.
He graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Thompson named Fisk University chief of staff
Fisk University has selected Wendy Thompson as its chief of staff.
Thompson comes to Fisk from the Tennessee Board of Regents, which oversees six universities, 13 community colleges and 27 technical colleges. She most recently served as vice chancellor for organizational effectiveness, developing and leading cross-functional teams, programs, and initiatives to drive progress in achieving equitable student success rates.
Thompson joined the Board of Regents in 2001 and through 2006 was responsible for oversight of the system’s compliance with a five-year consent decree negotiated to end the state’s 30-plus year involvement in a federal desegregation lawsuit. After the lawsuit was dismissed, Thompson remained at the Board of Regents to develop and lead the system’s first access and diversity strategic planning process.
Thompson is a former board member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and a member of the Women’s Network Executive Council for the American Council on Education. She is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Nashville Emerging Leaders selects 2024 class members
Nashville Emerging Leaders has announced its class of 2024, which is composed of 30 professionals from the public, private and entrepreneurial sectors representing industries including education, health care, nonprofit, communications and more.
The 11-week personal and professional leadership training program brings together the top minds across diverse backgrounds and perspectives working to shape Nashville’s future. The class includes:
• Abena Echternach, Spencer Fane, LLP
• Alayna Cate, PENCIL
• Bruce V. Ayers Jr., Nashville African American Wind Symphony, Inc.
• Codi Drake, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
• Deana Blount, Nashville After Zone Alliance
• Dr. Chasity Muhammad, Music City Dental
• Elizabeth Narvaez-Vega, Conexión Américas
• Elle Benson, Nonprofit Leadership LLC
• Eric Brinson, A&R Development & Acquisitions
• Haley Miller, HCA Hope Fund
• Hannah Cornejo-Nell, Office of Homeless Services
• Isabel Tipton-Krispin, The Nashville Shakespeare Festival
• Jeffrey Takiue, Empower Consulting
• Karla MacIntyre, HCA Healthcare
• Kyla Cretekos, Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga
• La’Kishia Harris, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
• M. Sarah Elliott, Tennessee Department of Health
• Mark Anthony Gottlieb Jr., Modern Marketing Consultancy
• Morgan Stanley, BrainTrust
• Philip Alms, Cedar Recovery
• Quiteka “Teka” Moten, Tennessee State University
• Rachael Harless Milligan, Lipscomb University
• Ray Coombs, ServisFirst Bank Nashville
• Samantha Thompson, HCA Healthcare
• Shanese Brown, Anecdote Architectural Experiences
• Sierra M. Washington, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
• Stephanie Crenshaw, TennCare
• Taylor Coleman, Tractor Supply Co.
• Tinsley Hastings, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Whitney Johnson, EOA Architects