Robert Ballow
Nashville School of Law (NSL) will honor the achievements of two distinguished attorneys at its 18th annual Recognition Dinner on Friday, June 3.
Robert Ballow, Metro Law pioneer and NSL class of 1963, is the 2011 Recognition Dinner Honoree, and Trevor Howell, employment and labor law attorney, will receive the 2011 Distinguished Faculty Award.
The annual dinner continues the celebration of NSL’s 100th anniversary, as hundreds of top lawyers, alumni, faculty, and students gather to commemorate this milestone as well as the achievements of this year’s honorees.
Ballow, co-founder of King & Ballow in Nashville, graduated from Nashville School of Law in 1963. Upon graduation, Ballow practiced with Frank King at his solo firm until starting King & Ballow in 1969. Ballow helped establish their general practice firm as a national expert on media law, and the firm now represents many Fortune 500 companies, more than 300 daily newspapers, and 100 radio and television stations nationwide. Ballow has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since its inception in 1982, and has been named by the Nashville Post as one of Nashville’s top 101 lawyers.
Trevor Howell received his law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, and now practices with Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC in Nashville. Specializing in employment and labor law, Howell has taught in these areas – including Employment and Labor Law and Business Associations – at NSL since 1988. He also regularly serves as instructor for Continuing Legal Education seminars in the employment law area. Howell is past chair of the Nashville Bar Association’s Employment Law Section, and is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, and American Bar Association.
Fifth Third adds Music Row specialist
Music Row banking specialist Anson Lewis has joined Fifth Third Bank as a credit manager with expertise in handling wealth management issues for artists, songwriters, producers, publishers and performing rights organizations, along with others in the entertainment and professional sports industries.
Lewis comes to Fifth Third with 13 years of professional experience in banking, including five years exclusively overseeing underwriting and credit approval for the largest and most complex loan requests within SunTrust’s sports and entertainment group.
Fifth Third launched its music and entertainment division a year ago when it hired producer Will Byrd to lead the group.
Lewis earned his MBA from Tennessee Tech in 2006 and a degree in business administration with a major in finance from Auburn in 1988. He served four years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper.
Bass, Berry & Sims tops in corporate law
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has been named the best corporate law firm in Nashville for the 10th consecutive year by Corporate Board Member magazine and FTI Consulting Inc. The annual America’s Best Corporate Law Firms study identifies the top corporate law firm in 25 major U.S. metropolitan areas, as well as the top 25 corporate law firms nationally, according to a survey of corporate directors and general counsel.
The survey asked directors and general counsel of U.S. publicly traded companies to weigh in on current governance matters. A complete listing of the national, general counsel and metropolitan rankings appears in the Q2 2011 issue of the magazine and is available at boardmember.com/currentissue.aspx.
MP&F wins award for Owens campaign
McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations earned national recognition at the 2011 SABRE Awards, joining the list of winners in New York City for its media relations and grassroots work on the Friends of Gaile Owens Campaign.
MP&F was the only Tennessee firm nominated for a Gold SABRE Award, honoring public relations campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity and effectiveness. The Gold SABRE Award was presented to MP&F in the “Public Education” category. The SABRE Awards are presented annually for superior achievement in branding and reputation.
In addition to the SABRE, MP&F has won five national Silver Anvil awards, more than any other Tennessee firm.
VU’s Minnick honored by research society
Ann Minnick, Ph.D., R.N., senior associate dean of Research at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has been elected to the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
She and 14 fellow inductees will be honored for contributions to nursing research and mentoring future nurse researchers at the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Research Congress in July.
Minnick’s research has focused on nursing workforce issues and how physical resources and work processes can improve patient outcomes.
Her work with foundations and governmental bodies such as the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education Practice, which advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services and members of Congress, has improved policies for nurse recruitment and retention and supported educational opportunities at the masters and doctoral level.
Minnick, who came to Vanderbilt in 2006, co-directs the Nursing School’s Ph.D. and post-doctoral programs. She is the author of numerous publications that are widely used by practicing nurses and researchers.
Averbuck, Martin have new roles at Zeitlin
Zeitlin and Company, Realtors, has named company veteran Jessica Averbuch as its vice president of education and hired relocation specialist Debbie Martin as its director of corporate services.
Averbuch, a partner in the company with more than 10 years of experience as a broker, is charged with designing and implementing programs that will attract agents to the firm and advance agents’ careers whether they are new to the industry or seasoned professionals. Sue Chilton previously served as vice president of education for the company.
Martin brings more than 14 years of new home sales experience in Nashville and the surrounding counties. In her new role, Martin will present Zeitlin’s relocation and real estate services to companies in Nashville, as well as companies moving into the area. She has won numerous awards in her career, including the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors’ President’s Award, Sales Leader of the Year (1999 – 2002) and multiple “Middle Tennessee Sales & Marketing Gold Circle of Excellence” honors. She previously served as an on site real estate consultant for Goodall Homes and Communities.
Dye, Van Mol adds 3 new hires
Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence (DVL) recently announced the additions of Erick Blackwood, broadcast media producer, Kelly Crase, lead web developer, and Melody Paxton, web developer/SEO expert.
Blackwood will oversee the production of broadcast media at DVL. At Rivals.com and StudioNow, he served various industries, including healthcare, advertising and sports. Blackwood joins DVL after working for several years with LVR Media in Nashville.
Crase spent several years on the corporate training team at Dollar General Inc., and managed online content creation for PureSafety, a health and safety software solutions company. At DVL, Crase produces and develops websites for various clients.
Paxton comes to DVL with more than 15 years of experience in optimizing websites. She served as a front-end web developer in charge of maintenance and new projects for the U.S. National Guard website.
Young Investigator Award to VICC’s Lovly
Christine Lovly, M.D., Ph.D., a fellow in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been selected to receive a 2011 Young Investigator Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
The $50,000 grant will help fund Lovly’s research on the molecular mechanisms that alter the effectiveness of cancer drugs used to treat a group of lung cancer patients who have a specific genetic mutation in their tumor.
Genomic alterations in the ALK gene are implicated in several cancers, including lung cancer and lymphoma. While drugs that inhibit the ALK tyrosine kinase or protein are often effective, all too often tumors develop resistance to the drugs and the cancer starts growing again.
CME honors Vanderbilt’s Moore
Don Moore, Ph.D., professor of Medical Education and Administration at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, recently received the Research in Continuing Medical Education Award from the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education at its Spring Meeting in New York City.
The award recognizes Moore for his contributions to research in CME. Moore is director of the Division of CME and director of Education and Evaluation in the Office of Graduate Medical Education in the School of Medicine.
VU’s Hamm, Yeatman are ‘Women to Watch’
Nashville Medical News’ annual list of “Women to Watch” this year includes two Vanderbilt University Medical Center high-achievers: Heidi Hamm, Ph.D., chair of Pharmacology, and Jeanne Yeatman, R.N., B.S.N., program director of Vanderbilt LifeFlight.
They are among 10 local health care leaders selected for the 2011 list.
Hamm was recruited to Vanderbilt from Northwestern University in 2000 to chair one of the most distinguished pharmacology departments in the country. She is the Earl W. Sutherland Jr. Professor of Pharmacology and professor in the departments of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, and Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation.
Yeatman, a flight nurse-turned-manager and EMT who also has an MBA and a master’s degree in Organizational Management, oversees one of the largest academic medical center-based transport programs in the country with a $10 million annual budget.
Medical honor society inducts Pao, Polack
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., and Fernando Polack, M.D., have been elected into one of the nation’s most respected medical honor societies — the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).
Pao, the Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research, and Polack, the Cesar Milstein Associate Professor of Pediatrics, were among 70 new members introduced at the ASCI annual meeting April 15 in Chicago.
They join 44 current Vanderbilt faculty members who have been elected to the ASCI for “outstanding records of scholarly achievement in biomedical research” early in their careers.
Pao is director of Personalized Cancer Medicine at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and associate professor of Medicine, Cancer Biology and Pathology.