Movers in South Florida

CEO of Imaging Diagnostic Systems retires

Tim Hansen will be retiring as chief executive officer and director of Imaging Diagnostic Systems, a medical technology company located in Plantation.

He was appointed CEO and director in 2004 and his retirement will take effect Jan. 1. No replacement was named in the announcement.

Board members at Camillus House and Camillus Health Concern

The following people have been appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of Camillus House, which provides help to the indigent and homeless in Miami-Dade County:

Julie Grimes, owner representative of PH Hotels, oversees the operation of Double Tree Grand Hotel, The Bentley Beach Hotel and The Bentley Hotel.

Eugenio Hernandez is a partner in the firm Avila, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Mena & Ferri and works in the field of immigration and consular law.

Rod Hildebrant is president and sole owner of Hospice Advantage.

Alfredo Mesa is vice president of Dutko Worldwide.

Also, Kate M. Callahan has been appointed to serve as chairwoman of Board of Directors of Camillus Health Concern, a sister organization of Camillus House. She previously worked at CHC as a registered nurse and served on the Camillus House board. She succeeds former CHC Chairwoman Francis Afram-Gyening.

Director of operations at LEO A DALY

Abdel F. Martel has been hired as director of operations at the Miami office of architecture, planning, engineering, interior design and program management firm LEO A DALY.

He is a returning employee to LEO A DALY, originally holding the position of project manager for the Miami office. Most recently he worked as a senior project manager for the Florida region of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Project and Development Services Group.

President of Florida Independent Living Council

Peter S. Sachs, managing director of the Sachs & Sax law firm, has been elected president of the statewide Florida Independent Living Council, which promotes independent living opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Managers and directors at The Continental Group

The Continental Group, a property management company headquartered in Hollywood, has hired several people to its management staff.

Gerardo Palacios has been hired as district manager. He oversees the operations and finances of approximately 10 Continental-managed communities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He worked at Continental from 2001 to 2005 as a property portfolio manager, but most recently was corporate regional operations manager for Miami-based developer BH Capital Partners.

Jean Chang has been hired as director of human resources. She previously worked at Interfoods of America as its director of human resources.

Jan Cooney has been hired as director of benefits and payroll. She previously worked for five years as director of benefits and compensation for Spirit Airlines.

Yra Saab-Tro has been hired as communications and community relations manager. She previously worked at UPS as the public relations manager for the Americas region.

CEO at West Gables Rehabilitation Hospital

Ismael Roque-Velasco has been named chief executive officer of West Gables Rehabilitation Hospital, a 60-bed acute care rehab facility located in southwest Miami.

He previously was the director of hospital services at Medica Healthcare Plans and chief operating officer of Hospitalists of America.

Associate vice president at Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau

Jennifer Diaz has been hired as associate vice president of media relations and promotions for The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Most recently, she was with Perry Ellis as marketing manager for Latin Brands.

Senior vice president at Silver Hill Financial

Steve Demarest has been hired as senior vice president at Silver Hill Financial, a commercial real estate lender in Miami.

He was previously senior vice president at the international bank ABN AMRO.

Partner at Goldstein Schechter Price Lucas Horwitz & Co.

Diana Levi has been promoted to partner at the accounting, tax, audit, and consulting firm Goldstein Schechter Price Lucas Horwitz & Co. in Miami.

Controller at Miami Jewish Home and Hospital

Eyta Brafman has been hired as corporate controller for the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital at Douglas Gardens and its related entities.

She has been with the Miami Jewish Home for 15 years, and previously held the position of director of finance for community based programs.

Board member at Coconut Grove Cares

Cutler Ridge resident Daryl J. Joyce, a principal of the accounting firm Berenfeld, Spritzer, Shecter & Sheer, has been elected to the board of directors of Coconut Grove Cares, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a better community for children and families in West Coconut Grove.

Dean of FIU's College of Arts and Sciences

Chemistry professor and forensics expert Kenneth Furton has been hired as dean of Florida International University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

He has taught at FIU for almost 20 years and served as an associate dean at the college for the past six years.

CEO of The Pankey Institute

Miami Beach resident Tony A. Trujillo, Jr. has been appointed chief executive officer of The Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education in Key Biscayne.

He was the former executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Intelsat Global Service Corporation in Washington, D.C.

The Pankey Institute is a non-profit organization that promotes optimal oral health care through advanced continuing education for dentists.

CEO of Hialeah Hospital

Ralph A. Aleman has been hired as chief executive officer of Hialeah Hospital, a 378-bed acute care hospital owned by Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

He most recently served as vice president and market leader of Tenet’s hospitals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, a position he held since April 2006.

Officers and board members at South Florida Technology Alliance

The following individuals have been elected as officers of the non-profit South Florida Technology Alliance for 2008:

• Chip Casanave, chief executive of Data Access Worldwide, as president
• Deborah Vazquez, chief executive of PROTECH, as chairperson
• Larry Steffann, chief executive and founder of Worldwide Venture, as vice president
• Bill McGloin, senior audit manager at KPMG, as treasurer
• Chris Burgio, CPIA at Seitlin Insurance & Advisory Services, as secretary

New members of the board of directors are Hugo Perez, president of Datacorp, and
Mike Wasserman, IT sales consultant at Sherlock Technologies.

Board members at the Visitor Industry Council

The Visitor Industry Council has appointed the following people to its board of directors:

Bill Diggs, the chief executive officer for The Miami Dade Chamber of Commerce.

Paulette Hicks, the founder and chief executive officer of SMARTTALKS.

Eric Knowles, the senior director of community relations and government affairs for Dolphin Stadium.

Tuni Kyi, the vice president and general manager for Doral Golf Resort and Spa, a Marriott Resort.

The Visitor Industry Council is a non-profit organization established by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote educational opportunities, training, and workforce skills for African Americans and descendants in the Hospitality Industry in Greater Miami and the Beaches.

Director at Hilton Miami Airport

Melissa G. Hampton has been hired as director of group sales of the Hilton Miami Airport hotel in Miami. She previously worked as director of sales of the Birmingham Perimeter Park Hilton in Birmingham, Ala.

Vice president at Zoological Society of Florida

Karen G. Dudley has been hired as the vice president of development for the Zoological Society of Florida, the non-profit support organization for Miami Metrozoo.

She was previously the vice president of development at Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation from 2002-2007.

Senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis

Bruce Gibson has been promoted to senior vice president of real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis.

He heads the Miami-based Senior Housing Group, specializing in investment sales, acquisitions and financing of senior housing facilities on a national basis.

Director at SJ Grant Realty

Rita Steinfeld Regev has been hired as director of business development for the real estate firm SJ Grant Realty in Hollywood.

Director and chairs at Miami Dade College

Miami Dade College has hired a new leadership team for its School of Education. They include: Susan Neimand as director, Vanessa Bird Arizmendi as chair of the Teacher Education Program and Josie Maymi as chair of Early Childhood.

Board members at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship

Kimberly Palmer and Josephine Kling have been appointed to the board of directors for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a non-profit that works to help young people from low-income communities in Miami-Dade County improve their business, academic and life skills.

Palmer is the regional managing director for Merrill Lynch South Florida. Kling is president of Landry and Kling Cruise Event Services.

Shareholder at Berger Singerman

James D. Gassenheimer has been hired as a shareholder at the business law firm Berger Singerman.  He is a member of the firm's dispute resolution team and is based in Miami.

Editorial director at Vista magazine

Cathleen Farrell has been hired as editorial director of Vista, a Hispanic magazine based in Miami.

She was most recently editorial director of Page One Media, where she oversaw the company’s Hispanic projects division, which included PODER magazine where she served as editor since 2002.

Interim CEO of Broward General Medical Center

Jane Tuthill has been named interim chief executive officer of Broward General Medical Center. She is replacing outgoing CEO Joe Scott, who recently accepted the position of President/CEO of the Liberty Health System in New Jersey.

She has been with the hospital for more than 30 years and began her career at Broward General in 1975 as a registered nurse. While completing her education, her career continued to advance until most recently as the administrator of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chris Evert Children’s Hospital and Heart Center of Excellence.

Broward Health will be conducting a nationwide search for the CEO position.

Chief of emergency medicine at Memorial Hospital Miramar

Ruddy A. Valdes has been hried as the new chief of emergency medicine at Memorial Hospital Miramar. He will be a member of the Medical Executive Committee and will oversee clinical and administrative activities related to Memorial's emergency department.

Senior vice president at Southern Auto Finance Company

Parkland resident Brian Switalski has been hired as senior vice president of operations at Southern Auto Finance Company, based in Fort Lauderdale. He is responsible for the day-to-day credit and collection activity for the indirect auto finance company. 

Prior to joining the company, he worked as retail marketing manager with Ford Motor Credit Company.

Vice president at Starmark International

Starmark International, a marketing communications agency based in Fort Lauderdale, has hired Adam Kustin as vice president of business markets.

He was previously president of Kelley Swofford Roy (KSR) Advertising in Miami.

New executives at Stiefel Laboratories

Coral Gables-based Stiefel Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatology, has made several staff hires and promotions.

• Tumi Oguntala has been hired as associate director of global market research and forecasting
• Jeff Klimaski has been promoted to vice president and assumes the role of global corporate compliance officer, a new position at Stiefel
• David Angulo has been promoted to senior director of global clinical research
• Seema Jaitly has been promoted to vice president of global pharmacovigilance
• Steve Karasick has been appointed to senior vice president of people and information technology

Vice president of marketing at Seminole Hard Rock

Joel Rovics has been hired as vice president of marketing at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

He was previously vice president of marketing for Silverton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Before that, he served as director of marketing for Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, run by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Vice president at LAN Airlines

Pablo Yunis has been promoted at LAN Airlines as its vice president of North/Central America for the company's passenger division. He is based at LAN's North American headquarters in Miami. He is responsible for the airline's passenger operations in the United States, Canada, Central America, including overseeing sales and marketing, accounting and cost control, operations, reservations and ticket offices, government affairs, human resources, and the oversight of the carrier's general sales agents throughout these countries.

He joined LAN ten years ago and was previously the company's commercial director for Europe, based in Madrid, for about four years.

Director at Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau

Sonia Fong has been promoted to director of convention sales for The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

She also is responsible for the bureau’s Washington D.C. regional office and its staff operations. She began at the bureau in 2000 working in corporate sales.

Foley & Lardner opens in Miami

The law firm of Foley & Lardner has opened an office in Miami. The office will include nine attorneys from the Miami office of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Attorney William Davis will serve as office managing partner for the Miami site.

The office is located in the Bank of America Tower at 100 Southeast Second St. This is Foley’s fifth office in Florida. Other offices in the state are in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa.

Partners at Holland & Knight

Two employees have been promoted to partner at the Miami firm of Holland & Knight.

Eduardo Ramos has been promoted from associate to partner. He is a member of the litigation section and practices in the areas of international and commercial litigation and arbitration and intellectual property.

Emma Cristina Solaun has been promoted from senior counsel to partner. She is a member of the firm’s business section and concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate and commercial law representing U.S. and foreign clients.

Partner at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler

Melissa B. Lewis has been hired as a partner at the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. Her concentration is in the area of labor and employment law.

New housing development firm

Maria Pellerin Barcus has founded the housing development firm Housing Partners of Florida, which provides resources for mission-driven housing. She is the firm's president and chief executive.

She is also founder of the Florida Supportive Housing Coalition and former president of Carrfour Supportive Housing in Miami.

The firm is being launched with financial support from National Equity Fund.

Senior vice president at Premier American Bank

Fabricio Gomez has been hired as senior vice president lending officer at Premier American Bank, based in Miami.

Prior to this, he was vice president of corporate lending at Ocean Bank. He lives in the city of South Miami.

Developer at ADX Technologies

Daniel Ruiz has been hired as custom applications developer at ADX Technologies, a technology services company based in Coral Gables.

He is responsible for assessing and developing critical business solutions to help ADX provide highly tailored solutions to customers. ADX provides services to small and medium sized businesses in Florida, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Vice president and general manager at Telemundo

Manuel Martinez has been hired as vice president and general manager of Spanish-language Telemundo station WSCV in Miami.

Previously, he served as vice president and general manager at WNJU in New York.

Managing partner at Krupnick Campbell

Walter "Skip" Campbell has been hired as managing partner for the Fort Lauderdale law firm Krupnick Campbell Malone Buser Slama Hancock Liberman & McKee.

He is a shareholder with Krupnick Campbell and a former Florida senator. He lives in Coral Springs.

Board member at The Governance Institute

Laura R. Seidman, general counsel for Broward Health, has joined the Member Editorial Board of The Governance Institute.

She will focus on providing expertise and opinion to the Research & Publications arm of The Governance Institute. She also will be asked to provide input on specific research questions, offer commentaries for publications, comment on the board’s annual education agenda and on occasion, review draft white papers.

The Institute conducts research studies, tracks healthcare industry trends, and presents the best practices of leading healthcare boards throughout the country.

Chairman at University of Miami

Hans C. Graber has been elected chairman of the division of applied marine physics at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

He has been with the university for 17 years. He also serves as the co-director of CSTARS (Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing), a real-time satellite reception and analysis facility in southern Miami-Dade County.

New business services enterprise in Coral Gables

Mairet M. Corzo, president of Corzo & Associates, has launched a new business venture called Corzo Enterprises, located at 2000 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables.

It is a career and outsourcing human capital services operation, offering professional recruitment, career consultation, employee benefits administration and corporate training.

Maria Lombard has been hired as director of employee benefits administration, and Noraida Vazquez-Huyke has been hired as director of corporate training.

Board member at Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance

Jose Tomas, Burger King's vice president of corporate human resources, has joined the board of directors of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA). The organization is non-profit think tank which promotes the economic benefits of diversity and inclusion in the foodservice and hospitality.

Reporter at CBS4

Michael Williams has been hired as a reporter with the WFOR-TV CBS4 newsteam.

He'll report special high profile stories, take part in special investigations with the CBS4 I-Team and will fill in as a back-up anchor. He starts with CBS4 on January 2.

Williams was most recently a spokesperson for Florida Power & Light. Before that he was a news anchor with WTVJ, which he joined as a reporter in January 1993. He also worked for NBC News as a national correspondent for their NBC owned and operated stations from 2002 to 2004.

Vice president at Nova Southeastern University

Gary S. Margules has been hired at Nova Southeastern University as vice president for research and technology transfer. He will start on Jan. 2.

Most recently, he was the assistant vice provost of technology transfer and industry research for the University of Miami, a position he held since 1992.

Director at Johnson & Wales University

Fred Menachem has been hired as director of development for Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami Campus.

He will be responsible for leading a campus fundraising program, maintaining relations with donors, facilitating solicitation of major gifts, gaining support of corporations and foundations and coordinating alumni giving campaigns.

He previously owned FJM Consulting Group, a firm specializing in fundraising and lobbying, where he led development efforts for the Miami Symphony Orchestra. He also served as finance and political director to former Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.

Regional market manager for Broward at BankUnited

Sheri Fadden has been hired as regional market manager for Central/North Broward County at BankUnited. She was previously market manager for the Boca Raton region.

She is based in BankUnited’s Downtown Fort Lauderdale branch and will be responsible for overseeing the business development and customer outreach initiatives of the bank’s 16 retail branches within the Central, Northwest and Northeast Broward markets.

Prior to joining BankUnited, she was assistant vice president and branch manager with Pointe Bank in Boca Raton. She resides in Boca Raton and is currently a trustee member of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.

Vice president at JM Family Enterprises

Carmen Johnson has been hired as vice president of human resources and total rewards for JM Family Enterprises, an automotive company based in Deerfield Beach.

She joins JM Family with 20 years of experience in labor-related law and employment compliance. Prior to joining the company, she worked for Muller Mintz, a labor and employment firm that merged three years ago with Akerman Senterfitt. She also served as JM Family's outside employment counsel for more than 10 years.

Board member at Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce

Marlene Gordon, Burger King vice president and assistant general counsel, has joined the board of directors of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce. She will assist the board of directors in planning the chamber's programs and initiatives.

Founded in 1974, the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce provides technical assistance in business development, promotion of trade missions and networking opportunities at business-related forums and leaders exchange events.