Attorney promoted to partner at DLA Piper

DLA Piper lawyer Jared Jensen has been promoted to partner in the law firm’s Phoenix, Arizona office, effective as of April 1, 2018.

Jared Jensen’s practice focuses on corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance transactions. He has represented both publicly traded and privately held high technology, education, retailing, manufacturing, industrial and financial services companies in connection with their merger and acquisition, financing, joint venture, SEC reporting and corporate governance matters.

Phoenix Symphony announces new CFO

The Phoenix Symphony announced they have hired a new CFO, Gary Egan.  He brings with him extensive experience not only in the non-profit financial space but in the local arts arena as well.

“I am honored to welcome Gary to our Phoenix Symphony family and leadership team,” says Jim Ward, President and CEO of the Symphony. “Gary has proven himself as an incredible asset to the arts and cultural community, his experience and commitment to the Valley will help The Phoenix Symphony achieve our mission to bolster the cultural economy and provide sustained stability and growth.”

For the past year, as a board member of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS in Phoenix, Gary has been filling in as both Interim CFO and CEO.  

Kerwin Brown joins Colonial Life

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance is welcoming Kerwin Brown as a new District Leader in Phoenix, Arizona. Colonial Life, which is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, is the oldest supplemental insurance company, and offers disability, accident, life, cancer, critical illness and other policies in 49 states. Colonial’s mission is to help America’s workers preserve and protect the things they work hard to build. Brown’s diverse knowledge experience and community networks, which includes over thirty years in marketing and business development, will help Colonial Life expand its outreach throughout Arizona.

Employers in Arizona are challenged with having to manage costs at the same time when they also need to provide a benefits package to attract and retain valuable employees. To control costs, they may have to choose health benefits with high deductible and co-pays, and/or eliminating other coverage, such as life or dental insurance. Brown is excited about his opportunity to help both small and large business owners in the State with voluntary, supplementary benefits.

Padi appointed director at UA Cancer Center

After earning her doctorate in physics at Harvard, Megha Padi, PhD, plans to draw from her expertise in bioinformatics, math and biology to expand collaboration at the University of Arizona Cancer Center and the entire UA campus.

Dr. Padi has been appointed director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource at the UA Cancer Center and is an assistant professor in the UA Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology.

In her new roles, she provides research support to UA Cancer Center investigators, connecting them with faculty members in other departments, such as mathematics and computer science. She is bilingual in the lexicons of both math and biology, and hopes to use her “interpreter skills” to facilitate conversations and expand collaboration.

“We’re looking for people who have the ability to speak both languages,” Dr. Padi said. “Right now, there could be problems that are lying around unsolved, because the faculty member didn’t know someone else on campus was solving that same problem.”

Dr. Padi joins the UA from Boston, where she taught at Harvard Medical School and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health.