NEWSMAKERS
Northrop Board Member Joins Company in Finance Role
Charles Noski’s career had the kind of well-planned start you might expect for the new vice president and chief financial officer at Northrop Grumman Corp.
“My late father sat me down when I was 13 and said we needed to decide what I was going to do when I grew up,” said Noski, who was born in Eureka, Kan., and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. “We decided I would become a CPA.”
Shortly after graduating from Cal State Northridge in 1973, Noski joined Deloitte & Touche, becoming a partner in 1983. As the firm’s national industry director for aerospace and defense services, he became acquainted with Hughes Electronics, where he later served as chief financial officer. He retired in November 2002 as CFO of AT & T; Corp.
The transition into Northrop, he said, will be smoothed by his experience at both Hughes, which had a defense component, and AT & T.; “The employee populations are very well educated and highly talented,” he said. “Being associated with companies that do state-of-the-art things is pretty intellectually stimulating.”
Already a member of Northrop’s board, Noski also serves on the boards of Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and Teledyne Technologies Inc. and has been nominated to the board of Microsoft Corp.
The Northrop job will certainly shorten his commute. In his last three years at AT & T;, Noski commuted between his office in Basking Ridge, N.J. and his Los Angeles home.
“Unfortunately I rode on a company plane, so I didn’t get any air miles, but it came to about 1 million miles,” he said. “I didn’t imagine I would have that exciting of a career as an accountant.”
The 51-year-old Noski is in the second year of construction of a house for himself, his wife and two daughters in Palos Verdes Estates.
Matt Myerhoff
Accounting
KPMG LLP announced that Susan King, Jerry D. Panzer and Bernhard von Thaden had been elected to the firm’s partnership in Los Angeles. King provides audit and risk-advisory services to retail and manufacturing clients, Panzer is partner in charge of merger and acquisition services to clients in Southern California, and von Thaden provides tax and economic services related to transfer pricing and business valuation to corporate clients.
Advertising & Public Relations
Valencia P & #233;rez & Echeveste Public Relations has hired Delia L & #243;pez as account supervisor in its consumer strategies division. L & #243;pez had served as assistant director for public relations and government relations for GroupEx, and as a trade specialist with the California Department of Trade and Commerce.
The Weston Group has appointed Dan Keston director of strategic planning. Keston, who recently received a master’s in real estate development, most recently worked as copywriter for Foote Cone and Belding.
Aerospace
Northrop Grumman Corp. has promoted Mary Ann Benischek to vice president of situational awareness systems at its navigation systems division. She previously was program director in the electronic systems sector’s enterprise resource planning group.
Architecture
Garine Gabrielian has been promoted to project manager in the interiors group at Ware Malcomb, where she had been an interior designer. The firm also announced the appointments of Patti Olguin to project manager in the interiors group and Kristen Baird as project manager in the health care group.
Automotive
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has promoted Carl Pellegrino to regional vice president in charge of operations for the San Gabriel Valley, where he will oversee 150 employees at 29 offices.
Banking
Citizens Business Bank has appointed Jean Kuper vice president, regional service manager in the Ontario-based bank’s sales and service division. Kuper had been vice president and manager of global payment services for Bank of the West in Los Angeles.
Government
Silvia Saucedo, an attorney at Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, has been named a member of the California Teachers’ Retirement Board, which oversees the investment and administration of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund, the nation’s third largest public pension fund.
Health Care
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. has appointed Aida Alvarez and Linda Rosenstock to its board. Alvarez was administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration from 1997 to 2001, and Rosenstock has served as dean of the UCLA School of Public Health since 2000.
Law
Dan Collins has rejoined Munger Tolles & Olson LLP as partner in its litigation department. Collins left the firm for two years to serve as an associate deputy attorney general.
Jane Peebles, a partner at Freeman Freeman & Smiley LLP in Los Angeles, has been elected to the board of the National Committee on Planned Giving, a group involved in the planning of major charitable gifts.
Manufacturing
Kitchen appliance manufacturer Dacor has named Chris Fesmire to the newly created position of director of community relations. He had previously served as director of human resources.
Media
The Recording Academy has appointed Angelia Bibbs-Sanders vice president, member services and Nancy Shapiro vice president, regional management, member services.
CSM: Communications Sponsorship & Marketing and its entertainment partner Joint Adventure Films have named Steven Chester senior vice president and partner. Chester was most recently head of sales and marketing at SLAM Entertainment.
C. Patrick O’Brien has been appointed director of sports for KFWB-AM (980) and the Dodgers Radio Network. O’Brien had been at Anschutz Entertainment Group, where he was director of sales and marketing.
Media sales firm WorldLink has named Jim Miller senior account executive. Miller will be responsible for direct response spot sales. Previously Miller worked at KDOC-TV in Irvine, where he was responsible for direct response and long-form advertising sales.
DMX Music, a provider of music, visual imaging and message marketing services, has promoted Simon Bexon to vice president, commercial division, Western region. Previously, he was national sales manager for the major account executive team.
Media services firm Initiative has named Joe Adney its senior vice president, group account director, overseeing retail and entertainment accounts. Previously, Adney was senior director, marketing for Baskin-Robbins.
Country Living Magazine has hired Michael J. Petruncola as Western advertising manager. Based in Los Angeles, he comes from Traditional Home magazine, where he had been Western advertising manager.
Non-Profit
Urban Education Partnership has named Reginald K. Ingram Jr. vice president and chief development officer. Prior to joining the organization, Ingram was president and chief executive of Ingram & Associates, a fundraising firm, and vice president of the United Negro College Fund.
The Arthritis Foundation has named Eloise Helwig chief development of its Southern California chapter, where she will oversee fundraising and marketing in Southern California, Hawaii, and Southern Nevada. Most recently, Helwig was president of the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital Foundation.
Grady Martine has been named executive director of Central City Community Outreach. In this position, Martine will focus on developing mentoring and tutoring programs for children living in poverty.
Robin Franko has been named South Bay region director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Franko had been vice president of ways and means at Congregation Ner Tamid of the South Bay.
James Kilcourse, director of capital projects for Amgen Inc., has been named to the board of Kidsave International.
Real Estate
Sperry Van Ness has named Tom Spankie senior investment advisor. Spankie most recently worked for Sauv & #233; Riegel Commercial Real Estate.
Crown Realty & Development Inc. has named Jon MacDonald executive vice president and general counsel. MacDonald had practiced real estate law at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP.
Staffing
On Assignment Inc., an international science and health care staffing company, has hired Peter T. Dameris as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Previously, Dameris was chief operating officer and executive vice president of Quanta Services.
Technology
Applied DNA Sciences Inc. has named Rob Hutchison to its board. Hutchison, who will help develop company strategy, founded several companies, including eCharge.
Software company Metapa has appointed Timothy Smith director, systems engineering. Smith most recently was a senior consultant with the Fillmore Group.
Wholesale
Philip S. Smith has been named executive vice president and chief marketing/procurement officer of Unified Western Grocers Inc., a wholesale grocery cooperative. Smith has been with the company since 1994, most recently as senior vice president, procurement.
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