Norman will lead VU School of Nursing

Friday, June 14, 2013, Vol. 37, No. 24

Linda Norman, DSN, R.N., who for 22 years has spearheaded curricular innovations at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN), will become the school’s new dean, pending Board of Trust approval.

Norman, the Valere Potter Menefee professor of nursing and senior associate dean for academics, will replace Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., CNM, who is retiring from her longtime role at the end of June.

Norman has led curricular innovations in blended learning, interprofessional education, quality improvement and doctoral distance learning. She has been responsible for setting and implementing the strategic direction for all of the School of Nursing’s academic programs.

U.S. News & World Report currently ranks the school 15th in the nation in the magazine’s Best Graduate Schools-Nursing.

Norman earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and her DSN from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Tomorrow board elects Blankenship

Trace Blankenship has been elected to the board of directors and executive committee for Cumberland Region Tomorrow. Blankenship is a founding member of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC and the firm’s general counsel.

Cumberland Region Tomorrow is a non-profit organization dedicated to planning for the future livability and economic vitality of Middle Tennessee’s ten-county region.

The organization supports and encourages growth planning, with emphasis on land use, transportation, and preservation of the rural landscape and character of the region’s communities. The mission is to foster communication, collaboration and action for the long-term livability, economic vitality and sustainability of the region.

Young Leaders Council announces graduates

Young Leaders Council, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that has trained more than 2,000 men and women during the past 28 years to participate on the boards of nonprofit agencies, has graduated Class 60.

After completing more than 30 hours of leadership training, these individuals will serve one-year internships on local nonprofit boards:

Allen Arender (Holladay Properties); AJ Baggott (Diversicare Healthcare Services Inc.); Camilla Baird (Genesco-Johnston & Murphy); Joseph Birdsong (US Bank); Mallory Bishop (Avenue Bank); Kelly Borchers (Aegis Sciences Corporation); Lawanda Bradley (Oasis Center); Wyatt Chocklett (HCA Healthcare); Daniel Clark (Thompson Machinery Commerce Corporation); Nicole Cobb (Metro Nashville Public Schools); Mark Coleman (HCA Healthcare); Lovette Curry (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County); Will Dodson (Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.); Dennis Georgatos (Skanska USA Building Inc.); Leah Granderson (Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc.); Michael Greer (Regions Financial Corporation); Jennifer Grenga (Curaspan Health Group); Bailey Groetsch (PearlPoint Cancer Support); Aaron Grunke (Adams Investment Strategies); Alexis Gunn (Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee); Ashley Hammer (Evergreen Life Services); Adam Hill (Hill Law); Alex Hughes (Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce); Jacob Kassinger (The Bank of Nashville); Katherine Koban (Iroquois Capital Group, Inc.); Vicki LaChance (C3 Consulting); Chris Lalonde (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP); Joshua Livingston (Fifth Third Bank); Justin Lowe (Centric Architecture); Whit McClung (Caterpillar Financial); Brooks McDonald (Argent Trust); Robert Paterno (Part One Music); Matt Ragan (Merrill Lynch); Jennifer Renshaw (Quorum Health Resources); Ryan Rohe (Gresham, Smith and Partners); Mark Seaton (KraftCPAs PLLC); Steven Simmons (SunTrust Bank); Austin Sloan (Ronald Blue & Co.); Thomas Smith (TrustLand Title & Escrow, LLC); Marcia Topiwala (Bass, Berry & Sims); Adam Will (Belimed AG); Christopher Wilson (Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP); Justin Wilson (Seigenthaler Public Relations); Rodney Wright (LBMC, PC); and Jeff Young (Tennessee Bank & Trust).

Tristar Centennial announces trustee appointments

Juli G. Horton, M.D., infectious disease physician, TriStar Centennial Medical Center, has been named chair of the TriStar Centennial Medical Center Board of Trustees.

Arthur B. Laffer, Ph.D., founder and chairman of Laffer Associates and Laffer Investments, has been named as vice chair.

Horton served as vice chair in 2011 and 2012 and brings more than 16 years of experience to the role. She completed her residency and fellowship at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville and practices as an infectious disease specialist with The Frist Clinic on the TriStar Centennial campus.

Laffer, known as “the father of supply-side economics,” has been influential in state, national and global tax initiatives. His firms focus on institutional economic research consulting and institutional investment management. He has advised state- and national-level government organizations, as well as in the business community. He was previously a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for both of his two terms, a member of the Executive Committee of the Reagan/Bush Finance Committee in 1984, and advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy in the U.K. during the 1980s.

Joe F. Alexander, D.B.A., associate dean, The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, Belmont University, Michael S. Murphy, founder and president, Dominic & Irvine Research, and David R. Spigel, M.D., medical oncologist, TriStar Centennial, have been appointed as Board of Trustees members for three-year terms through Dec. 31, 2015.

William H. Polk, Jr., M.D., thoracic surgeon, TriStar Centennial, has been appointed as a member for a one-year term through Dec. 31, 2013.

Alexander is associate dean for the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University in Nashville.

Murphy was founder and president of Dominic & Irvine Research (D&I) and is founder of Bellaterra Ranch in Sonoma, Calif., and Franklin.

Spigel currently serves as director of Phase II/III Research for Tennessee Oncology in Nashville and as the program director of thoracic oncology for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. He is also a partner in Tennessee Oncology.

Polk serves as a thoracic surgical oncologist with The Surgical Clinic in Nashville and is on the TriStar Centennial Medical Center medical staff.

As the 2011 Frist Humanitarian Employee Award recipient, Marilyn Kaye Orange, R.N., TriStar Ashland City Medical Center, was appointed as a non-voting member for a term of one year through December 31, 2013.

Michael J. Stabile, M.D., M.B.A., vice president of the medical staff, and Jeffrey Guy, M.D., M.S.c., M.M.H.C, F.A.C.S., chief medical officer (CMO), TriStar Centennial Medical Center, also were appointed as ex-officio members of the board.

Patricia P. Stokes, MSW, president and CEO, Urban League of Middle Tennessee, was reappointed to a second term through Dec. 31, 2015. She has 25 years of nonprofit experience, including as program manager for Meharry Medical College, Center for Women’s Health Research.

Aegis Sciences adds to leadership team

Aegis Sciences Corporation, a forensic toxicology and health care sciences laboratory, has announced it has added two new senior leaders to its laboratory team.

Sheila Dawling, PhD, has joined the company as vice president of laboratory operations, and Rebecca Heltsley, PhD, a six-year Aegis veteran, has been promoted to vice president of research and development.

Previously the associate director of clinical chemistry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dawling has been involved in the maintenance and monitoring of quality standards and indicators, instrument maintenance and the writing of standard operating procedures for the past 13 years. In her new role as vice president of laboratory operations, she will utilize her expertise to oversee and direct all of Aegis’ laboratory operations and workflow.

A London native, Dawling earned her BSc in Biochemistry from University of Surrey in Guildford and her PhD in Pharmacology from University of London.

Heltsley has been part of Aegis’ R&D operations since 2007, serving as senior research scientist and assistant vice president of research and development. In her new role of vice president of research and development, she will manage all aspects of research and development at Aegis including the development, implementation and assessment of new technologies.

Heltsley earned her MS in chemistry from Western Kentucky University and her PhD in environmental toxicology from North Carolina State University.

American College of Radiology inducts Walker as fellow

Ronald Walker, M.D., professor of clinical radiology and radiological sciences, is recognized as a fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR), following a formal convocation ceremony during the recent ACR annual meeting and chapter leadership conference in Washington, D.C.

Recognition as a fellow is one of the highest honors the ACR can bestow on a radiologist, radiation oncologist or medical physicist. ACR Fellows demonstrate a history of service to the College, organized radiology, teaching or research. Approximately 10 percent of ACR members achieve this distinction.

Walker, also a Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigator, is a staff radiologist and nuclear medicine physician for the Tennessee Valley VA Healthcare System.

The ACR is a national nonprofit association serving more than 34,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

Barge Waggoner promotes Stokes

Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon Inc. has named Carrie Stokes, PE, PMP, CHMM, as its new director of energy and environment. Stokes will be responsible for the development of growth strategies and business opportunities within the energy, water resources and environmental sectors that make up the business unit.

Stokes was previously a senior project manager at the firm. She began her career at Barge Waggoner as a student assistant and became a fulltime employee in 1997. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Johnston joins Regions as senior vice president

Regions has announced the hiring of industry veteran Tammy Johnston to the position of senior vice president and relationship manager for Nashville and Middle Tennessee. She will focus on government, institutional and nonprofit clients.

Johnston has more than 25 years of experience in both commercial banking and trust. Prior to joining Regions, she held positions with Indiana National Bank, Bank of America, AmSouth/ Regions and, most recently, Fifth Third Bank.

Johnston earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Indiana University and has served as board member of Nashville’s Table, the Young Leader’s Council and Nashville Children’s Theatre.

Zeitlin & Co. adds 2 brokers in Green Hills

Sydney Grigg and Megan Smithwick have joined the Green Hills office of Zeitlin & Co., Realtors.

Grigg began her career at Zeitlin as a marketing specialist.

Smithwick, a Nashville native, attended Harpeth Hall School and graduated from Denison University in Ohio.

She worked in Washington in the corporate office of a regional sporting goods chain before going to work for Nike in New York City.

Smithwick returned to Nashville in 2005 to continue in sales and marketing as a national account executive for a local athletic footwear company.