Moving Up

Published Sep 4, 2012 at 6:00 pm (Updated Sep 4, 2012)

ACCOUNTING

Horne named Jessica Cormier a senior associate. Cormier works in the Baton Rouge office; she focuses on fraud, forensic and litigation services. The division provides services including expert witness testimony, economic damage calculations, fraud examinations for detection and prevention, business valuation and economic analysis.

CONSTRUCTION

G.E.C. promoted Buck Frederick to executive vice president of the construction division. He has managed construction engineering and inspection projects such as the East Baton Rouge Rehabilitation project, the construction of the John James Audubon Bridge, and the widening of the Huey P. Long Bridge.

INSURANCE

Phil Schmitt joins Hub International Gulf South as a producer for the insurance brokerage firm. Schmitt will work with clients in providing comprehensive risk management services including property and casualty insurance. The company says he will focus on accounts in the construction and real estate niches.

MEDICAL

Dr. Stephanie Sue Awad has joined Baton Rouge General Physicians. Awad received her medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Portsmouth, Dominica, and completed her family medicine residency at Baton Rouge General Medical Center. Awad has a microbiology degree from LSU and a master’s in environmental chemistry from Southern University.

Dr. Aniedi Udofa has been appointed medical director of Capital Area Human Services District. She will direct the agency’s Medical Staff Organization and a team of six full-time staff psychiatrists, 11 contract psychiatrists and three psychiatric nurse practitioners. Udofa, a board certified psychiatrist, has been a member of the CAHSD medical staff for 10 years.

NONPROFIT

The Louisiana Children’s Discovery Center in Hammond named Brandon Cutrer assistant director. Cutrer will be instrumental in fundraising and promoting the center. The Discovery Center features innovative exhibits and displays that children can touch, climb, or move; an art center equipped for hands-on work; and a variety of arts-based classes and programs.

The American Federation for Children, which promotes school choice, named Stephanie Ryan communications associate for Louisiana. Ryan spent two years in Baton Rouge covering Louisiana politics, courtrooms, features and education as a reporter and multimedia journalist for WBRZ-TV. She will promote school choice across Louisiana through partnerships with television, radio, newspapers and magazines. She will also grow school choice awareness through social media and educating parents about their children’s educational options.

PUBLIC SECTOR

Mayor Kip Holden has named chief operations engineer David Guillory as interim director of the Department of Public Works, replacing William Daniel, who was named chief administrative officer. Guillory will serve in the position until the current reorganization of the department is complete at which time a search will be conducted to fill the position permanently. Guillory, who has been with the department since 2003, previously served as assistant public works director of maintenance, special assistant to the director and as a civil engineer in the subdivision office.

Gary Reichard has been named interim provost and vice president for academic and student affairs for the University of Louisiana System. Reichard will be responsible for the vision and direction of academic programs at the nine universities in the system. He succeeds Brad O’Hara who left after 25 years in Louisiana. In 2009 Reichard retired after 15 years of service in the California State University system. Since then, Reichard has worked on three projects for the UL System as a consultant.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has named Clifford R. Strider, III as director of the Gaming Division for the Louisiana Department of Justice. Strider, who most recently served as the chief criminal prosecutor in the attorney general’s Monroe office, replaces James Smith. A 1979 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU, Strider has nearly 33 years of legal experience. Before working as an assistant attorney general, Strider was an assistant district attorney for almost three decades.

Sebastian van Delden, former associate professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of South Carolina Upstate since 2004, has been named the head of the Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology at Southeastern Louisiana University. SLU has degree programs in the Computer Science and Industrial Technology Department. With a research focus on visual/voice guided industrial robotics, van Delden is the author or co-author of numerous articles in professional journals and has had success in attracting grant funding for research projects.

TOURISM

Visit Baton Rouge promoted Katie Guasco to director of communications. Guasco has been with Visit Baton Rouge since 2006 as the destination services manager, and senior sales manager of tourism development. She has worked to position Baton Rouge as a premier destination in Louisiana for domestic and international visitors. Guasco previously worked at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and the New Orleans Convention Company. In her new role, Guasco will oversee all internal and external communications for Visit Baton Rouge and manage the Visit Baton Rouge brand.

Visit Baton Rouge hired Courtney Hunt as destination services manager. Hunt earned her bachelor’s in management in 2010 and her MBA in 2011, both from Southeastern Louisiana University.