Sagewood names administrator of Acacia Health Center

Sagewood, a Life Plan Community featuring resort-like amenities focused on independence and well-being, has named Natalie Miko administrator of its on-site Acacia Health Center.

She brings 15 years of experience in executive level senior living services and healthcare administration.

“We are excited to have the senior living and administrator experience like Natalie Miko join our team,” said Stewart Ingram, executive director at Sagewood. “Her background in the senior health industry will lead in the continued success of Acacia Health Center.”

Miko most recently served as interim administrator at Newcastle Place in Mequon, Wis. Miko has served as administrator of nursing facilities/rehabilitation centers in Wisconsin and Texas.

Beautifully-designed Five-Star rated Acacia Health Center features a social-interactive model offering top skilled nursing services, assisted living, memory support and rehabilitative therapy for individuals who are seeking short- or long-term care. Acacia is open to the public as well as residents of the Sagewood community.

Brittany J. Reed joins Gust Rosenfeld

Gust Rosenfeld, P.L.C. announced that Brittany J. Reed has joined the firm’s Education Law and Employment Law practice groups.

Brittany’s practice focuses on the areas of education law and employment law. She represents schools, school districts, and other educational organizations in various types of law, including employment, special education, and litigation.

Brittany has several years of litigation and business law experience. She graduated cum laude from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Business Administration and from Arizona State University with a J.D. She served as the Business Editor for the Arizona State Law Journal.

Ware Malcomb announces new civil engineering manager

Ware Malcomb, an award-winning international design firm, today announced Matthew Kuehn has joined the firm as Civil Engineering Manager in the Phoenix office. In this position, Kuehn is responsible for the overall growth and management of Ware Malcomb’s civil engineering services in the Phoenix office.

“Matt’s expertise in both engineering design and business management will be invaluable as we expand Ware Malcomb’s civil engineering services in Phoenix and beyond,” said Chris Strawn, Ware Malcomb Principal, Civil Engineering. “We look forward to Matt’s leadership supporting the growth of Ware Malcomb’s civil engineering services,” added Tom Jansen, Ware Malcomb Principal, Civil Engineering. Jansen and Strawn are responsible for the leadership and expansion of civil engineering services firmwide.

Ware Malcomb’s Civil Engineering team specializes in land development projects, with a focus on efficient design practices ensuring successful project outcomes. The team has worked on office, industrial, healthcare, public, institutional, retail, restaurant, mixed-use, multi-family, residential and subdivision projects.

“Matt is well-positioned to lead our expansion of civil engineering services,” said Kevin Evernham, Principal of Ware Malcomb’s Phoenix office. “His expertise and team leadership will be an excellent addition to Ware Malcomb’s architecture and interior design services in Phoenix.”

Bell Bank hires Doug Hawes as SVP

Doug Hawes has been hired as SVP/commercial lender at Bell Bank, located at located at 1850 East Northrop Blvd in Chandler, Ariz. In his new position, Hawes will bring the best financial solutions to the best business clients (and try to have fun doing it).

Originally from Webster, N.Y., Hawes earned bachelor and master’s degrees from Arizona State University and has more than 25 years’ experience in Phoenix banking and business lending. 

Hawes lives in Scottsdale. He and his wife, Evonne, have two sons. 

Bell Bank in Chandler hires Aaron Cooper

Aaron Cooper has been hired as VP/commercial lender at Bell Bank, located at 1850 East Northrop Blvd in Chandler, Ariz. In his new position, Cooper will provide financing for professional real estate investors and developers that are either acquiring or refinancing existing properties or need construction financing for new ground-up projects.

Cooper grew up in a military family and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Richmond, Va. He received his MBA with a concentration in finance from Western International University and has over 15 years’ experience in commercial banking. He joins Bell Bank from Academy Bank.

Cooper lives in North Scottsdale with his wife, Jill, and their two sons. 

Moore named dean of the UA College of Nursing

After a comprehensive national search, Ida M. “Ki” Moore, PhD, RN, FAAN, who has served as interim dean for the last 10 months at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, has been named dean of the college. Dr. Moore’s appointment begins July 1.

“Dr. Moore has demonstrated exceptional leadership for the college over the past 10 months in her interim role and has worked tirelessly to establish a collaborative, positive culture for faculty, staff and students,” said Michael D. Dake, MD, senior vice president for the UA Health Sciences. “Her forward-looking leadership already has made a mark, and as the UA Health Sciences begins to position itself to address the global health challenges of the 21st century, I am confident the college will remain at the forefront of nursing education and research in the United States.”

The Anne Furrow Endowed Professor at the college and a long-standing member of the UA Cancer Center, Dr. Moore has 25 years of research experience, primarily investigating the impact of central nervous system (CNS)-directed cancer treatment for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and brain tumors. She has written more than 150 publications in the area of pediatric oncology.

She also has been principal investigator on extramurally funded clinical studies of the long-term effects of CNS-directed treatment including interventions to improve outcomes among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and pre-clinical studies on mechanisms of CNS tissue injury and gene expression changes associated with chemotherapy.

Leading planetary scientist joins UA

Amy Mainzer, one of the world’s leading scientists in asteroid detection and planetary defense, will join the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory as a professor of planetary sciences this fall. Mainzer comes to the UA from the Science Division at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she has worked as a senior research scientist specializing in astrophysical instrumentation and infrared astronomy.

“We are the only university in the world currently leading a NASA sample return mission to an asteroid, and Amy is among the top researchers on the study of asteroids,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “Her expertise complements ours. I am very excited that she is joining our team at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.”

As principal investigator of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, or NEOWISE, Mainzer has overseen the largest space-based asteroid-hunting project in history, resulting in the detection and characterization of an unprecedented number of asteroids and comets, including objects that could potentially pose a hazard to Earth at some point in the future.

Mainzer also is the principal investigator of the proposed NASA Near-Earth Object Camera, or NEOCam, a next generation space telescope that would use a similar scientific approach to fulfill a mandate from the U.S. Congress to discover nearly all of the space rocks that could pose a significant threat to Earth.

“Already a leader in this space, the UA is continuing to raise its profile as a Research 1 university in lunar and planetary sciences with the addition of Amy,” said UA Interim Provost Jeff Goldberg.

Mainzer pointed to the long-standing partnership between JPL and the UA on space missions since the days of the Voyager spacecraft in the late 1970s.

“The UA has a strong track record of delivering missions on time and under budget, with OSIRIS-REx being just the latest example,” Mainzer said. “We had PI-led instruments on JPL missions including Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Galileo and the Phoenix lander, and we also have a long history of being leaders in ground-based planetary defense, with the Catalina Sky Survey and Spacewatch project discovering about half of all known near-Earth asteroids.”