// January 29, 2015//
EASTERN VIRGINIA
Leigh Houghland, named senior vice president and commercial loan officer for the Williamsburg market, Chesapeake Bank. Houghland was a commercial loan officer for Union First Market Bank. (Daily Press)
Kenneth W. Jessup, named to the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind and Vision Impaired. He is lobbyist with Ken Jessup and Associates, Virginia Beach (News release)
Brandon Ramsey, of George Mason Mortgage, installed as the 2015 president of the board of directors for the Tidewater Mortgage Bankers Association. The board’s president-elect for 2015 is Todd Starr of Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group. (Daily Press)
Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms resigned his position as president of Towne Financial Services in December, taking early retirement, as a result of a new corporate policy adopted by TowneBank that forbids executive management team members from holding public office. (Inside Business)
Management consulting executive Joseph Christopher “Chris” Simmons and university representative Y. Ping Sun have been elected to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation board of trustees. Simmons, who lives in McLean, is a former managing partner of the Washington, D.C., metro region for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Sun, an attorney and Houston resident, serves as university representative for Rice University and is of counsel at Yetter Coleman LLP. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Dewey M. Hutchins Jr., a realtor with Newport News-based Liz Morre & Associates, was recently installed as the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors’ newest president. Hutchins will take over from past president Kimi Dornan of Century 21 Nachman. (Daily Press)
Keller Williams Elite Realty in Newport News announced that Michelle Pollock, an associate broker with the firm, was awarded the 2014 Salesperson of the Year award during the annual awards banquet of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors. (Daily Press)
SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Anne Adams will be inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame this spring in Richmond. She is editor and publisher of The Recorder, a weekly newspaper serving Bath and Highland counties and the Allegheny Highlands. (News release)
The following people were named to the Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide: Andrea S. Early, director of school nutrition, Harrisonburg City Public Schools; state Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr. (R-Mount Solon) and Rosalea R. Potter, manager, Donald’s Meat Processing, Lexington. (News release)
Neal Menefee, retired president and CEO of Rockingham Group, was presented the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year award in January at the organization’s annual banquet. Tim Heydon, president and CEO of Shenandoah Growers, named Entrepreneur of the Year, and Alan Shelton, a food scientist with Cargill Inc., received the Community Champion award. Bob, Susan and Chris Threewitts of Twin Oaks Farm honored with the Farm Family Stewardship award. (Daily News-Record)
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
Laura Ashworth, named marketing and research manager, Danville Office of Economic Development. She had worked as a graphic designer and archiving specialist for six years at Infinity Global. (Danville Register & Bee)
Sandra T. Chinn-Gilstrap, named principal in the law firm Woods Rogers. She joined the firm in 2012 after managing her own practice for 17 years. (Work It, SoVa)
Lin Hite, a business teacher and former businessman, is the new director of the Small Business Development Center at Longwood University in South Boston. (Work It, SoVa)
Stanley Jones, named the new superintendent of Danville Public Schools, effective July 1. He currently serves as the superintendent of King and Queen County Public Schools. (Danville Register & Bee)
Charles Majors retired Dec. 31 as American National Bank’s executive chairman. Majors became the non-executive chairman of the Danville-based bank and the company’s boards. The move is part of a succession plan put into place nearly five years ago. (Danville Register & Bee)
Craig Rogers, named the new chief development officer at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham. Rogers worked as senior development director for the V Foundation for four years before coming to Hargrave. (GoDanRiver.com)
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Tammy Finley, promoted to executive vice president, human resources and general counsel, Advance Auto Parts, Roanoke. She was senior vice president, human resources. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Caroline County Public Schools Superintendent Greg Killough will lead Roanoke County Schools. His contract begins July 1, but officials said they will try to bring him in on a consulting basis in the springtime, although that has not yet been finalized. He replaces Lorraine Lange, who plans to retire in June. (The Roanoke Times)
Beth Macy will be inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame this spring in Richmond. She is the author of “Factory Man,” a book about the Bassett family and the shifting fortunes of furniture making in Virginia. (News release)
Frank Martin, named senior research consultant, Access Advertising & Public Relations, Roanoke. Martin brings more than three decades of research experience to Access. (News release)
Former news anchor Karen McNew has joined Carilion Clinic’s marketing, research, and communications team as a senior communications consultant. (News release)
Paul Vining, president of Bristol-based Alpha Natural Resources, is resigning Jan. 31 to become CEO of a Cline Group affiliate. Alpha Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Brian Sullivan, and Executive Vice President, Mining Operations Keith Hainer, will then take on expanded roles within the company. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Roanoke-based firm Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LLP promoted five attorneys to partner — Les Bowers, Benjamin Byrd, Christen Church, Peter Irot and Justin Lugar. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Travis A. Knobbe elected partner, Spilman Thomas & Battle, Roanoke. Knobbe’s primary areas of practice include commercial litigation, construction law, creditors’ rights, bankruptcy and appellate litigation. (News release)
Frances “Rusty” Rice of Blacksburg is now one of only two nurses in Virginia to be awarded the French Legion of Honor. In 1944, she arrived in France as a second lieutenant and worked in a school-turned-hospital. (The Roanoke Times)
CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Dale S. Batten, promoted to deputy director for workforce development at the Division of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) in the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Batten had been central regional director for Richmond-based DRS. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Scott C. Beardsley, named the ninth dean of University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Charlottesville, effective Aug. 1. The current dean, Robert F. Bruner, will return to the Darden faculty. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
John Braymer retired at the end of December as executive vice president/CEO of the Richmond-based Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects, a position he held for 28 years. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Carol Beth Buchanan, named president of The Main Street Group in Glen Allen. Buchanan has been with the firm for five years. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Calvin W. “Woody” Fowler Jr., named the next CEO and president of Richmond-based Williams Mullen. Fowler will succeed Thomas R. Frantz as CEO on April 1. Frantz will continue to serve as chairman of the board. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Donald Lemons became the 26th chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court in January. He was first elected to the state Supreme Court by the General Assembly in 2000. Lemons succeeds former Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser who has retired. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Robert P. Schultze, director of Richmond-based Virginia Retirement System, has resigned to become president and CEO of ICMA-Retirement Corp. in Washington D.C. The resignation will become effective Feb. 16. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
McGuireWoods LLP has promoted the following lawyers in its Richmond office to partner: Benjamin Candland, Katherine DeLuca and Bethany Lukitsch. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Hirschler Fleischer announced the promotion of two attorneys in its Richmond office: Jeffrey P. Geiger and Marshall L. Jones promoted to partners. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
The following Central Virginia professionals will be inducted into the Virginia Hall of Fame this spring in Richmond: Pam Lepley, vice president of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Division of University Relations and chief communications officer for the university and the VCU Medical Center; Cheryl E. Miller, anchor of the “CBS 6 News at Noon” and co-host of “Virginia This Morning;” Jeff Schapiro, a political columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch; Diane Walker, an anchor for both WWBT/NBC 12 and “Fox News at Ten” WRLH and Francis Wood, general manager of Colonial Broadcasting Company Inc. (News release)
Josh Parsley, who has an extensive background in operations management and process improvement, named vice president of operations for Brown Distributing. He’s based out of the firm’s Richmond office. (News release)
Frank Robinson, president and CEO of Henrico-based Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, will retire March 31. Shane Tippett, the garden’s executive director, has moved into the organization’s top leadership position, keeping his current title as Robinson becomes president emeritus. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
John Bowen, named director of business development iGov, Reston. Bowen was vice president of the Southeast division at TRI-COR Industries. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Terrence Dwyer, named senior vice president and chief information officer, Long & Foster Cos., Chantilly. Dwyer ran the IT consulting firm Dwyer & Associates. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Charles “Chip” F. Helme III, managing principal of Fairfax-based Thompson Greenspon, elected to CPAmerica International’s board of directors as new chair of the board. He succeeds 2014 chair Bryan R. Chandler, leading partner of JamisonMoneyFarmer PC, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (News release)
Danielle Metzler, named chief financial officer, AnyPresence, Reston. Metzler served as the vice president of finance for Mandiant Corp. before its acquisition by Fire Eye Inc. (News release)
Timothy Ross joined CohnReznick LLP’s Tysons Corner office. He has 22 years of experience as a corporate tax adviser. (News release)
Patrick Thomas, named vice president of project development, Sigal Construction Corp., Arlington. He has more than 29 years of experience in the construction industry. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
Donald L. Trump, named CEO of the new Inova Comprehensive Cancer and Research Institute, Fairfax. He was chief of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, a comprehensive cancer center in Amherst, N.Y., affiliated with the University at Buffalo. (Washington Business Journal)
McGuireWoods LLP has promoted Melissa Taylormoore and Kenneth Wire to partner. Both are based in the law firm’s Tysons Corner office. (VirginiaBusiness.com)
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