Health Care
Olympia Medical Center has appointed John A. Calderone to chief executive. Lee Suyenaga returns to his position as chief operating officer. Calderone was formerly chief executive at Corona Regional Medical Center and Suyenaga had served as interim chief executive of the hospital.
The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has named Carole Wagner Vallianos chairwoman of its board. Vallianos currently serves as principal in the Law Offices of Carol Wagner Vallianos.
Hospitality
Michael Swyney has been appointed to vice president of sales and marketing at Pacific Palms Conference Resort in Industry Hills. Swyney had recently served as director of sales and marketing for the company.
Insurance
Myron Hendry has joined Countrywide Insurance Group’s Calabasas office as executive vice president and chief operations officer. Hendry was previously senior vice president at Safeco Insurance.
Law
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has appointed Eric Miller as senior director of public relations and communications in its Los Angeles office. Miller joins the firm from Weber Shandwick where he served as senior vice president.
Marketing
Catapult Marketing has promoted Steve Welker to chief creative officer of its Los Angeles office. Welker previously served as vice president and creative director with the firm.
Media
Mark Kristol has been hired as president of marketing and distribution at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, a production and finance company based in Los Angeles and New York. Kristol was formerly a senior executive with Universal Pictures.
Ebeling Group, an international production company, has named Dex Deboree an executive producer of its office in Playa del Rey. Prior to joining the company, Deboree was a producer at Los Angeles-based Rock Paper Scissors.
ReelzChannel, a new network featuring information related to movies, has named Jon Landa regional vice president of the west based in the Los Angeles office. Landa was previously vice president of national accounts at CSTV.
Asa Events, an action sports event and television production company, has hired Mary Bonafede as director of sponsor services and Larry Peters as vice president of sales and marketing. Bonafede was a logistics manager at NBC; and Peters served as West Coast regional vice president at Clear Channel Communication’s entertainment radio sector in Los Angeles.
Brian Kercher has been named general manager of Los Angeles-based Kodak Digital Cinema’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa division. Kercher recently served as business manager for Kodak Entertainment Imaging.
Real Estate
Combined Properties Inc., a retail shopping center owner and operator, has hired Rob Mettel as vice president of West Coast leasing and Jeff Mindes as vice president of mixed-use construction for its Beverly Hills office. Mettel comes to the company from Westrust, where he served as director of leasing, and Mindes was previously manager of construction and development at the CIM Group Inc.
Griffin Capital, a real estate investment company, has hired Louis K. Sohn as vice president of acquisitions at the firm’s Los Angeles headquarters. Sohn was previously associate director at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP.
Randy J. Noblitt has returned to Cushman & Wakefield as director of its client solutions group. Previously, Noblitt was senior vice president in Arden Realty’s asset management department.
MerueloMaddux Properties has appointed Lynn Beckemeyer as senior vice president of the company’s Los Angeles office. Beckemeyer was formerly vice president of worldwide corporate operations and real estate at Walt Disney Co.
Technology
Aerospace Corp., an El Segundo-based non-profit technical analyses company, has named Dan S. Barbee as general manager of the facilities division. He was formerly director of public office buildings with the city and county of Denver. Also, Rufus A. Fulton Jr. and John E. McLaughlin were elected to Aerospace Corp.’s board. Fulton was chairman and chief executive of Fulton Financial Corp.; and McLaughlin was formerly a Central Intelligence Agency official.
KUDOS
The Los Angeles County Bar Association recently gave the following honors: Fred Allen, a founder and senior partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, received the Outstanding Real Estate Lawyer award. Nelson Rising, chairman and chief executive of Catellus Development Corp., received the Real Estate Industry Outstanding Achievement Award. The Outstanding Young Lawyer Awards were given to Kevin M. Ehrhart of Allen Matkins; Loryn Dunn Arkow of Cox Castle & Nicholson, and Aimee Contreras-Camua of Sidley Austin LLP.
Harley Ellis Devereaux has won two Savings by Design + AIACC Energy Efficiency Integration Awards. The honors were in recognition of the Sun Valley Branch Library and the Oak Park Joint-Use Library. The firm also was awarded an AIA/Los Angeles Decade Award for the Fine Arts Facility at the University of California, Riverside.
Rachlin Architects has won an Award of Distinction from School Planning & Management Magazine for the Dena Primary Center in Boyle Heights.
Ronald E. Busuttil, executive chairman of the UCLA Department of Surgery, and Shonda Rhimes, executive producer and creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” were honored at the “Future in Hand” benefit at the Kodak Theatre for their contributions to the medical field.
The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. has announced City National Bank and Toyota Motor Corp. as the 2006 Eddy Award honorees. The Eddy Awards recognize business leadership in economic development.
