Banner Health appoints new CEO for Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix

Banner Health today announced that it has appointed Daniel Post as chief executive officer for Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix. Post begins his new role on Jan. 27, 2020. He succeeds Dr. Steve Narang, who left Banner Health earlier this year to join a health system in Virginia.  

Post comes to Banner from Loyola Medicine in Illinois, where he has served as regional executive vice president of strategy and business development.

“I am delighted and humbled to have been chosen as the new CEO for Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix,” said Daniel Post. “The rich and proud history of serving this community is palpable among the medical staff, leadership and colleagues. Recent investments in the hospital campus, ambulatory and clinical programs as well as the affiliation with The University of Arizona are evidence of Banner’s vision and deep commitment to our future. I look forward to joining this team to realize that vision and build on the rich history as a patient-focused organization with a passion for relentless improvement.”

Post has more than 30 years of experience in hospital, ambulatory and physician practice operations. In his role at Loyola Medicine, he has been responsible for system strategy, network and business development. Before that, he served as senior vice president of clinical programs and chief business development officer. Post is also credited with developing Loyola’s ambulatory network of more than 30 locations. 

“Dan has a well-established and impressive background in the health care industry,” said Larry Goldberg, president of Banner – University Medicine. “We are excited to have him lead our academic medical center in Phoenix and look forward to expanding our clinical programs and supporting our academic mission that will benefit our patients and the communities we serve.”

ASU Cronkite’s dean named president at University of the Pacific

Christopher Callahan, who led the transformation of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University into one of the nation’s top programs, was announced today as the next president of University of the Pacific, the oldest chartered institution of higher education in California.

Callahan will start July 1, 2020. He joined ASU as the Cronkite School’s founding dean in 2005. Callahan also serves as vice provost of Arizona State’s Downtown Phoenix campus and CEO of Arizona PBS, one of the nation’s largest public television stations with a focus on public service and lifelong learning.

Callahan made his mark as a leader and innovator, bringing energy and passion to the Cronkite School and ASU’s 13,000-student downtown campus. During his time, he led Cronkite efforts that dramatically increased student enrollment, retention, diversity, graduation rates and recruitment of out-of-state students.

His leadership more than tripled the size of the faculty through philanthropy, entrepreneurial partnerships and strategic initiatives, championed a teaching design of immersive experiential learning and community service, and led the creation of new degree programs on the undergraduate, master’s and PhD levels. He forged learning and research partnerships with major corporations and nonprofits nationally, and raised more than $100 million.

“Chris Callahan is a great architect of the future through his design creativity in complex academic settings,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “He has designed and built the nation’s finest journalism school in an era of great social complexity and made significant national contributions through these efforts.”

A signature of the Cronkite School under Callahan’s leadership is the “news teaching hospital” model to educate students using experience-based immersive learning that also serves communities. The Cronkite School’s 15 professional programs dramatically accelerate student learning.

Students might spend one semester producing digital content for Cronkite News – Phoenix and another in Washington, D.C., covering national news for Arizona audiences. Or they might work in the Digital Audiences Lab one semester and take their new audience engagement skills into the Public Relations Lab, where they develop campaigns for clients from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Callahan also helped grow Cronkite through partnerships with some of the biggest names in journalism and communications. The Scripps Howard Foundation, for example, invested $3 million to establish a Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, which opened this fall.

Rusing Lopez & Lizardi expands Scottsdale and Tucson teams

Philip G. Mitchell, a commercial litigator with 36 years of experience, has joined Rusing Lopez & Lizardi as a partner and will practice in the firm’s Scottsdale office.

Mitchell joins RLL from The Cavanagh Law Firm in Phoenix where he was a senior member. His practice areas are bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, commercial and corporate litigation and real estate.

His experience includes workouts, restructuring, foreclosure, asset recovery, asset sales, real property, litigation, litigation management, liquidation and Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations. Mitchell has represented individuals and institutional creditors, trusts, debtors, Chapter 11 trustees, receivers, liquidation trusts and creditor and equity committees in state and federal court actions.

He is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated attorney. He earned his law degree from Arizona State University.

“Philip instantly provides a wealth of experience and breadth of knowledge to our Scottsdale office,” said RLL Partner Oscar Lizardi. “We are extremely happy he’s decided to bring that experience to our team.”

Rusing Lopez & Lizardi also added three associates, Travis Atwood, Caitlyn Mitchell and Matthew Ramirez, to its growing business law practice.

Atwood joined the firm after earning his law degree magna cum laude at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law earlier this year.

While in law school, Atwood served as a judicial extern for Honorable U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg and gained courtroom experience working for the Pima County Public Defender and the Colorado State Public Defender. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Texas, and he earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy. At RLL, he will be practicing in both the business transactional and litigation areas.

Mitchell earned her law degree from Arizona State University and previously practiced in Phoenix where she gained experience in probate, guardian and conservatorship proceedings, trust management and dispute resolution.

She has a Master’s in Public Administration and dual bachelor’s degrees from ASU. Prior to attending law school, she worked in the Budget and Management Office for Maricopa County and also held a position in the Phoenix City Council Office.

Mitchell’s practice areas will include business formation and corporate governance, bank and credit union representation, and real estate and construction litigation.

Ramirez also earned his law degree from the UA College of Law earlier this year and was a clerk for Rusing Lopez & Lizardi while in law school. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies from Arizona State University.

While still in Law School, Ramirez was awarded the Community Leader of the Year award in 2017 by the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Indian Center.  In 2019, Ramirez was awarded The Robert A. Hershey Award for Outstanding Tribal Advocacy and was involved in the creation of a neighborhood legal services clinic to assist American Indians who live off-reservation and in the Tucson area.

As an associate at RLL, Ramirez works with clients in general business litigation matters, estates and trust litigation, gaming and Native American law, personal injury, real estate and construction litigation, and business formation and corporate governance.

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