Suns announce front office moves

The Phoenix Suns announced they have named James Jones as general manager. The club has also added Jeff Bower as senior vice president of basketball operations and retained Trevor Bukstein as assistant general manager.

Jones will oversee all basketball operations for the team with Bower and Bukstein reporting to him. Jones has spent the last two seasons as the Suns’ vice president of basketball operations, sharing general manager duties with Bukstein this past season where the two collaborated on trades which brought Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tyler Johnson to Phoenix.

A veteran executive with over 30 years of basketball experience at the NBA and collegiate levels, Bower was most recently general manager of the Detroit Pistons from 2014-2018. During his time with the Pistons, he revamped the team’s roster, leading to a breakthrough season in 2015-16 when the Pistons went 44-38 (their first time finishing over .500 since 2007-08) and qualified for the 2016 NBA Playoffs.

SB&H adds new board member

Southwest Behavioral & Health Services (SB&H), an innovative leader in behavioral health, announced today that it has appointed Kevin Lawson to its board of directors.

Lawson has more than 24 years of firefighter paramedic experience currently working for the City of Scottsdale’s Station 609 at the Scottsdale airport. He is a member of the Scottsdale Fire Department Honor Guard as well as a CPR, PHTLS, and community college instructor. Lawson is heavily involved in the community, serving as a previous board member for La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church and as a core committee member for the Arizona Burn Foundation’s Camp Courage. He is also the founder and past committee chair for Troop 316 Boy Scouts of America. In addition, he volunteers for Ryan House, Phoenix Rescue Mission and Changing Lives Center.

“Kevin is a great addition to the SB&H board of directors,” said Southwest Behavioral & Health Services president and CEO Steven Sheets. “We anticipate that his years of public service will provide new insights, leadership and direction to our team in the years to come.”

Microsoft veteran Shannon Murphy joins GlobalMed

GlobalMed, an international provider of virtual care solutions, today announced that Shannon Murphy has joined as Chief Technology Officer. 

Murphy most recently served as Microsoft Corp.’s Director of Federal Health Solutions. During her 20+ years with Microsoft, she held multiple technology and clinical informatics leadership roles, including serving as the company’s Federal Health Architect as well as Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft’s Federal Health and Benefits Team. In addition to serving as the voice of health IT for Microsoft at the federal government level, Murphy was responsible for the technical leadership, solution architecture, and development of sustainable and repeatable business success across many different Federal customers.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Shannon aboard as our new CTO,” said Joel E. Barthelemy, founder and CEO of GlobalMed, noting that the company’s virtual care platform recently became available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. “She has handled some of the largest and most difficult integration projects including those involving tactical systems, manned vehicle networks, and shipboard systems. She has put Active Directory everywhere from rural development offices for the USDA to the back of Humvees for the US Army, and even the bottom of the sea with MBARI.” 

Barthelemy added that Murphy’s strong working relationships across Microsoft Corp. are an important value-add for GlobalMed, a Microsoft Gold Partner and one of the first Federal Independent Software Vendors (ISV) for Microsoft.

New surgeon at The CORE Institute

The CORE Institute, Arizona’s top-ranked orthopedic practice, proudly announces the addition of Brian Buck, DO, a board certified and fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in orthopedic traumatology.

“We are happy that Dr. Buck has chosen The CORE Institute as the preferred practice to bring his experience and skill set in orthopedic trauma,” said Jason Scalise, MD, Vice Chairman and Director of National Physician Integration at The CORE Institute.  “He will further enhance our ability to care for patients with injuries and build upon our platform of orthopedic research and education as he joins a world class team of recognized orthopedic trauma experts.”

Dr. Buck has authored several publications and participated in numerous research projects and presentations across the United States. He earned the Howard Rosen Award from AO North America on his Basic Principles and Techniques of Operative Fracture Management Course for surgical residents.

Hahn named dean of engineering

David W. Hahn, an engineer with more than two decades experience in government, national laboratories and higher education, has been named dean of the University of Arizona College of Engineering. He joins the university July 1.

Hahn is a mechanical engineer specializing in thermal sciences and laser-based diagnostics, including renewable energy, biophotonics and general laser-material interactions. He has published more than 100 archival journal papers and holds 10 patents. Hahn joins the UA after a 20-year career at the University of Florida, where he has served as chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 2011.

“David is going to be a great leader for the UA College of Engineering,” said UA Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Jeff Goldberg. “The college has recently increased faculty and is poised to increase both undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as research output. David’s extensive work with industry and government agencies is going to be critical for developing new partners for research and student placement. Also, David has been an advocate for design in engineering education throughout his career, and this is especially important given the college’s new ideas for a four-year design curriculum and its new Engineering Design Center.”