StyleBlueprint names chief operating officer

Friday, June 6, 2014, Vol. 38, No. 23

StyleBlueprint, the Nashville-based online lifestyle publication with sites featuring five Southern cities, has hired Coco Kyriopoulos as its new chief operating officer.

Kyriopoulos comes to StyleBlueprint from Cracker Barrel, where she served as manager for financial and strategic planning and investor relations. Before joining Cracker Barrel, she was founder and president of children’s clothing company Coco Bonbons, Inc.

She spent nearly a decade in investment banking early in her career. This included stints with J.C. Bradford & Co., and then as vice president of investment banking for Robert W. Baird & Co. An Atlanta native, Kyriopoulos is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

VUMC’s Lehmann to advise on health informatics

Chris Lehmann, M.D., professor of pediatrics and biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University, has been appointed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as the first pediatrician to serve on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee.

He will act as the committee expert on vulnerable populations for a three-year term.

The HIT Policy Committee, established as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, makes recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health IT on the development and adoption of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient medical information, according to the GAO website.

Lehmann, a board-certified neonatologist and biomedical informatics specialist, has earned recognition among his peers for his achievements in computer-based applications, including clinical decision support tools, which have shown to improve pediatric patient care, safety and outcomes by reducing errors and costs and decreasing unnecessary medication usage.

Loser to be honored at annual NSL dinner

The Nashville School of Law community is paying special tribute at its 21st annual Recognition Dinner this week to the late Dean Joe C. Loser Jr., who led the institution for nearly 28 years and died earlier this month, just weeks prior to his retirement.

Prior to becoming dean, Judge Loser had served on Third Circuit Court of Davidson County after 20 years on the bench. A champion of the Nashville School of Law’s mission to make a legal education available to working adults, Loser shepherded the school through two moves to larger campuses, spearheaded a name change, enhanced the curriculum and more than doubled the school’s enrollment during his lengthy tenure.

Loser graduated from the Nashville School of Law in 1959 when it was known as the Nashville YMCA Night Law School and became the school’s fourth dean in 1986. He taught civil procedure and remains known in statewide legal circles for his book, “An Outline of Workers’ Compensation Law of Tennessee.”

He also served as Special Judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Special Judge of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and Special Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. During his years as a jurist, he authored hundreds of appellate court opinions, mostly in the field of workers compensation law.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization announces new board

Dan Hogan, CEO of Medalogix, will serve as president of the 2014/2015 board of directors of the Nashville chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

The Nashville EO chapter has 169 members. To join, an entrepreneur must be a founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of a company with gross annual sales exceeding $1 million.

The new board of directors of Nashville EO also includes:

• Incoming president: Charles May, principal, bytes of knowledge
• Finance chair: John Aron, president and CEO, The Pasta Shoppe
• Finance co-chair: Bethany Newman, co-owner and president, st8mnt
• Membership chair: John Rowley, owner, Fletcher Rowley Inc.
• Membership co-chair: Alan Young, CEO, Armor Concepts LLC
• Catalyst chair: Bryan Ansley, CEO, FNB Merchants
• Catalyst co-chair: Glenn McConnell, owner, Music City Tents & Events, LLC
• Learning chair: Evan Austill, COO, PatientFocus, Inc.
• Social chair: Will Newman, proprietor, Edley’s Bar-B-Que and The Filling Station
• Forum chair: Bryan Merville, president and director of sales, Beacon Technologies
• Forum co-chair: Elliott Holt, CEO, Medi-Copy Services, Inc.
• Sponsorship chair: Bob Jacobs, president and managing partner, Equity Solutions USA
• Sponsorship co-chair: John Kepley, CEO, teknetex inc
• Engagement chair: Eric Jackson, managing partner, Keystone Business Solutions, LLC
• Engagement co-chair: Sonny Clark, entrepreneur
• Nerve chair: Joe Freedman, founder and chairman, Music City Tents & Events and Peachtree Tents & Events
• Nerve co-chair: Alex Tolbert, owner, Bernard Health

Moravitz joins DSi to lead new D.C. office

Nashville-based electronic discovery company DSi has expanded its eDiscovery and forensics services with the opening of a new Washington, D.C. office. Vic Moravitz, a litigation support and eDiscovery specialist with 28 years of experience, will lead the new office as senior eDiscovery consultant.

Moravitz most recently worked as a director of First Advantage Litigation Consulting, where he helped major law firms and multi-national corporations implement eDiscovery solutions on large, complex government investigations and HSR matters. Previous experience includes serving as a regional director of Daticon EED and vice president of Trion Technology, Inc. Through these experiences he has acquired expert knowledge of forensic preservation, document conversion technologies, accelerating document review and predictive analytics.

Moravitz earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and master’s of public administration from George Mason University.

Buchanan elected president of Historical Society

Robert N. Buchanan III has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Tennessee Historical Society.

Buchanan, an attorney with Stites & Harbison, PLLC, previously served as a director for the Tennessee Historical Society, a nonprofit organization founded in 1849 to promote the interest and preservation of all matters relating to the history of Tennessee.

Buchanan is the society’s 34th president.

Burr & Forman attorney relocates to Nashville

Burr & Forman LLP has announced that Ben Katz, an associate in the firm’s financial services litigation practice, has relocated to the firm’s Nashville office. Previously based in Burr & Forman’s Fort Lauderdale office, Katz assists clients in the financial services industry. He is the second attorney to relocate to Nashville this month.

Katz’s practice covers a wide range of litigation matters with particular emphasis on the defense of claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He also has experience working in the areas of commercial litigation, labor and employment, and bankruptcy.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from Emory University School of Law.

Shepherd assumes CFO role at TriStar Summit

TriStar Summit Medical Center has named Bryan E. Shepherd its chief financial officer. He will be responsible for all financial planning of the hospital.

Shepherd previously served as division controller at TriStar Health in Nasvhille. Prior to moving to Tennessee, he was the controller at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, TX.

Shepherd is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a degree in both accounting/international business and business administration. He also is a certified public accountant.

JLL relocates senior VP to Nashville office

Kevin McDowell, senior vice president for project and development services for the professional services and investment management firm JLL, will be permanently relocating to Nashville in his role as lead of the Tennessee division for JLL’s Southeast Region.

McDowell has managed JLL projects in Tennessee since 2005, when he began work on the 950,000 square-foot BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters, which was completed in 2009.

With JLL since 1997, McDowell brings more than 23 years of experience in the management of design and construction projects, including tenant build-outs, build-to-suits and major building renovations.

McDowell earned a degree in building construction from Auburn University.

Dickinson Wright attorney elected Temple president

Ralph Z. Levy, Jr. has been named president of The Temple – Congregation Ohabai Sholom in Belle Meade. Founded in 1851, The Temple is Nashville’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation.

Levy is an attorney of counsel in the Nashville office of Dickinson Wright, PLLC, where he focuses his practice on corporate, health care enterprises and estate planning law. He holds a master’s degree in law in taxation from New York University and earned his jurisprudence degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Other newly elected officers are:

• Vice president and treasurer: Martin Sir, an attorney with Martin Sir & Associates.

• Secretary Joyce Bauman Friedman of Franklin, an affiliate real estate broker and sales associate.

White approved as new Austin Peay president

The Tennessee Board of Regents this week approved Alisa White as the next president of Austin Peay State University.

White will assume her leadership role on June 30, following the brief interim presidency of Tristan Denley.

White is provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas at Tyler and has more than 25 years of experience in higher education.

She holds the Ph.D. in mass communications from UT-Knoxville, a master of science in library and information science, and a bachelor’s degree in business from Lee College in Cleveland, Tenn.