Andrew Logan ’18The Portland Business Journal named Kaiser Permanente President Andy McCulloch ’76 one of the top 10 executives of 2016. This award honors area executives whose business strategies have successfully expanded their companies over the last year. During the past year with Kaiser Permanente, McCulloch boosted membership by 3 percent while maintaining a member retention rate of 97 percent. In just their two hospitals, Kaiser Permanente physicians logged 3 million doctor visits and 420,000 dental appointments while earning $3.4 billion in yearly revenue. McCulloch began his presidency in 2006 and directs Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Washington State. During this time, the…
Cynthia RockwellFranklin Sirmans ’91, director of the Pérez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM), was credited for his “star power” that drew a crowd to the museum’s reception and fundraiser. The first African-American director of this publicly funded museum, Sirman was previously curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. An article in the Miami Herald quoted Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen ’66, who attributed the rise in attendance—double that of last year—to previously successful celebrations, as well as to Sirman’s arrival: “There is no getting around the fact that people are excited about Franklin Sirmans; they’re…
Ramanan Sivalingam ’10, vice president at Deutsche Bank, was named to Forbes magazine's “30 under 30” list in finance—a young professional who is “influencing money flows in the global economy.” An economics and East Asian studies double major at Wesleyan, he continued his high school exploration of the Chinese language, as well as his burgeoning interest in the stock market, which soon became a passion. He began trading stocks independently and also took a leadership role in Wesleyan’s undergraduate investment group with Mike Levin ’09, who now works for the top-ranked auto research team at Deutsche Bank. After graduation, Sivalingam accepted…
Gregory Heller ’04, CEO of American Communities Trust (ACT), was named Urban Innovator of the Week on Feb. 15, by Urban Innovation Exchange (UIX), an initiative to advance urban improvement and highlight those who are on the leading edge of this movement. Begun in 2012 as a three-year project in Detroit and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, UIX is now showcasing talented people from all over the country who are transforming the cities and neighborhoods in which they live. As head of ACT, Heller, who has spent more than 10 years in community development in Philadelphia,…
Nicholas Quah ’12 is the subject of “Meet the 26-year-old who's got all the news on podcasting,” an article by Benjamin Miller on Poynter.org. Quah is the creator and full-time blogger at Hot Pod, his newsletter about podcasts, which you can find at nicholasquah.com. It is also hosted at NiemanLab, the site for Harvard’s Neiman Foundation for Journalism. While most media aficionados consider the fall of 2014 to be the time when podcasts gained considerable popularity (Serial—the true crime investigation series on public radio is just one example), Quah had been a fan of podcasts for several years by then: as…
Tufts Medical Center selected Jonathan Bush ’93 to receive the Ellen M. Zane Award for Visionary Leadership. Chairman and CEO of the health care technology company, athenahealth, Bush was cited for “exemplifying visionary and transformational leadership” as well as his "passion for uniting individualized and coordinated patient care with the demands and practicalities of healthcare management.” Bush co-founded athenahealth in 1997. In 2007 it was the most successful initial public offering, and it is now one of the health care information technology industry’s fastest growing companies, considered by many to be industry standard. In announcing the award, President and CEO of…
Natalie Robichaud ’14Avery Esdaile ’00 started his new job as athletic director for Boston Public Schools on Monday, April 14. Before his recent transition, Esdaile spent 12 years in the Wellesley College Athletic Department. Ken Still, the former athletic director for Boston Public Schools, retired in October, leaving the schools without an AD for much of the fall and the entire winter season. Esdaile, with a degree in sociology from Wesleyan and a master’s of science in management of sports industries from the University of New Haven, says he is looking forward to being “in a position to hopefully down the line develop…
Boston Children's Hospital announced the establishment of the N. Thorne Griscom Endowed Chair in Radiology. Dr. Griscom ’52, recently retired after 49 years in pediatric radiology, served as president of the Society of Pediatric Radiology (SPR) in 1981-82. Dr. George Taylor, SPR president in 2005-06, is pictured with him here at the reception to celebrate the announcement. Taylor calls Griscom as "an outstanding radiologist, clinician, mentor and friend," adding, "This was a very deserved honor for this truly gentle man." A Phi Beta Kappa chemistry major at Wesleyan, he earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester and was…
Bozoma Saint John ’99 was named senior vice president, head of global marketing, at Beats Music, reporting to Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers. Saint John will lead Beats Music marketing initiatives, from brand and performance marketing to collaborations with AT&T, Target, Chevy, Beats Electronics and others. She will also work closely with Luke Wood ’91,who serves as president of Beats Electronics and vice chairman of Beats Music. Prior to Beats Music, Saint John was most recently the head of the music and entertainment marketing group at Pepsi-Cola North America, working with entertainment celebrities such as Beyonce, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj,…
Jerry Hourihan ’86 is the new president of AIG Private Client Group for the United States and Canada. In his new role, Jerry will drive the development, implementation, and execution of strategies and priorities in the Private Client Group business. Before being named president, Hourihan served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer for AIG Personal Lines, working with marketing, distribution management, and field operations. Hourihan has been with AIG Private Client Group since 2002 and has held several different positions. At Wesleyan, he studied economics.
After an extensive national search, Mental Health America’s board of directors has named Paul Gionfriddo ’75 the new president and CEO of the organization. Gionfriddo is an experienced nonprofit leader and former state legislator and mayor. During his over 30-year career, Gionfriddo has held many leadership positions related to health and public heath; he has led nonprofit organizations in three states, run his own consulting business, specializing in public health, children’s health, primary care and mental health. In 2013, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appointed Gionfriddo to a four-year term on the National Advisory Council to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health…
Kenneth Kimmell ’82 will join the Union of Concerned Scientists as president in May. After graduating with a BA from Wesleyan, Kimmell received his JD from UCLA. His decision to become an environmental attorney was prompted by an experience assisting a United State District Court judge on a case in which the government misused science. He was a director and senior attorney at a law firm in Boston before joining the administration of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. As General Counsel of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Kimmell wrote and helped pass five groundbreaking environmental and energy laws.…