Advertising/Public Relations
Victoria Lins has been named director of marketing for Adlink. She previously worked with AirTouch Cellular. She will design and implement Adlink’s overall marketing strategy and oversee the creative services, promotions and public relations departments. Additionally, Nancy Padberg has been named promotions director and Jeff Basler has been appointed account executive, client services.
Hajjar and Partners Advertising has appointed Mark Patton creative director. He will oversee work for all clients. Prior to joining Hajjar, Patton was a partner and creative director at Poppe Tyson, Los Angeles.
Banking & Finance
Sheryl J. Stiles has been named vice president in the product management and development division of Union Bank of California. Prior to joining Union Bank, Stiles served as a vice president and senior product manager at Sanwa Bank of California.
Thomas C. Wong Jr. has joined General Bank as a senior vice president and special assistant to the chairman, president and chief executive. Wong was head of international banking and cash management sales at Whitney National Bank prior to joining General Bank. Additionally, General Bank announced the following promotions: Sue Lai to senior vice president; Gloria Chen to senior vice president and relationship manager in the corporate lending department; Susan LaFleur to vice president and loan portfolio officer and Michael Creith to vice president in charge of special assets in the credit administration department.
Simone Lagomarsino has been appointed senior vice president/controller of Imperial Financial Group Inc., a subsidiary of Imperial Bancorp. Prior to joining Imperial Financial Group, she served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Ventura County National Bancorp in Oxnard.
Bank of America has appointed executive vice president Lisa Prescott to head of the business banking division. Prior to heading Bank of America’s Los Angeles region, Prescott held managerial positions within the bank throughout Southern California.
Michael Tyminski has been appointed senior vice president and chief credit officer for East West Bank. Tyminski will be responsible for all credit administration, credit policy, real estate and commercial supervised assets of the bank. He previously served as portfolio risk manager and conversion team leader at Citicorp’s sales outlet finance unit.
Douglas Goddard has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of First Federal Bank of California. Prior to joining First Federal Bank, Goddard was controller of California United Bank.
Entertainment/Media
Ann Daly, former Walt Disney Co. executive and president of Domestic Home Video, Buena Vista Home Video Inc., has been named head of DreamWorks SKG’s feature animation division. DreamWorks has also named Bob Cooper to head of production for DreamWorks features. He will be responsible for overseeing theatrical motion picture development and production.
Tor Hyams has been named director of Buzz Online, the interactive version of the magazine, Buzz. Hyams will be responsible for the development of online capabilities and provide the site with new daily content. Buzz Online is a division of Buzz Enterprises.
The Los Angeles Times has named Julia C. Wilson president of the newspaper’s Valley and Ventura County editions and a vice president of the Times. Wilson, who has been editor of the Ventura County edition, will be responsible for business operations of the two editions. Wilson previously worked as California political editor for the Times.
Cobalt Moon has promoted Timothy A. Bennett to vice president of development. He will be responsible for the development of branded interactive entertainment projects and development of in-house projects. Prior to joining Cobalt Moon, Bennett studied and worked in Chicago with the Second City comedy troupe.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has promoted Kathy Briski to executive director of purchasing and corporate travel and Joe Ventrone to executive director of facilities. Briski will be responsible for procurement activities for corporate purchases, the direction of Hoffman Travel, the on-site travel agency and the oversight of travel-management functions. Ventrone will be responsible for collaborating with building management.
MGM Distribution Co. has named Lamya Souryal to executive director of field operations and Christine Benarroch to executive director of special events. Souryal will be responsible for developing and implementing field publicity and promotions campaigns for the U.S. and Canada. Benarroch will oversee planning and execution of special projects, including premieres, benefits and national press events.
Universal Pictures has appointed Nick Carpou and Mark Gaines to the position of executive vice president-general sales manager for Universal Pictures Distribution. They will share responsibility for overseeing all domestic sales territories. Universal Pictures is part of Universal Studios, a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd.
High-Tech/Aerospace
Merisel Inc. has named James P. Faulkner vice president of product and inventory management. Faulkner was with Casio Inc. where he was responsible for developing and implementing channel sales and networking product sales to distributors, retailers and dealers, prior to joining Merisel. Based in El Segundo, Merisel distributes computer hardware, software and networking products.
Composite Structures LLC has appointed Terence William Lyons chief financial officer. Formerly vice president of the Wah Chang division of Allegheny Teledyne Inc. and senior financial advisor in Allegheny Teledyne’s aerospace and electronics segment, he will be responsible for Composite Structure’s growth strategy.
Legal
William E. Thomson Jr., has joined the law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen LLP as partner and chair of the firm’s biotech industry group. Thomson previously practiced with the firm of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler LLP and served as the mayor of Pasadena. His practice covers intellectual property matters with principal emphasis on litigation, counseling and technology transfer.
Jaffe Dean Dickerson has assumed the managing shareholder position for the law firm of Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff, Tichy & Mathiason. He will be responsible for a national practice development role for the entire law firm. Dickerson will continue to maintain his practice in employment issues.
Personnel
Jocelyn B. Tetel has been named director of advancement for the Skirball Cultural Center. As a member of the senior management team, she will oversee fundraising, public relations, special events, media relations, membership and marketing. Previously she served as vice president in the Los Angeles branch of Johnson & Higgins.
Real Estate
Gordon R. Watkins has been appointed vice president of Tishman Hotel Corp. and Tishman Realty Corp. His duties include business development within the investment banking division and development, asset management and management support services to current and new hotel properties. Watkins had served as the national practice leader in charge of hospitality and gaming consulting for Deloitte & Touche LLP before joining Tishman.
Steven Meixner has been named senior vice president of development services for Transwestern Property Co. Prior to joining Transwestern Property, Meixner operated as an independent real estate developer and consultant.
