WNC Announces New Appointments

Wilfred N. Cooper Jr. is the new president and chief operating officer of WNC & Associates Inc. in Costa Mesa, a real estate investment firm and specialist in tax credit finance. He succeeds John Lester Jr., who was named vice chairman. Cooper, who has been with the company for 12 years, had been executive vice president. He will continue to serve as president of WNC Capital Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary. In addition, David N. Shafer was named executive vice president and Sy Garban was appointed senior vice president. Shafer, who joined WNC in 1990, serves as general counsel. Garban is responsible for overseeing institutional sales in the tax credit investment funds.

* William K. Doyle has joined the board of directors of Nationwide Health Properties Inc. in Newport Beach. Doyle is managing director of Kerlin Capital Group, a private investment bank in Los Angeles. Doyle succeeds Sam A. Brooks, who retired from the board after 15 years.

* Lyle E. Pearson has joined MTI Technology Corp. in Anaheim as senior vice president of North American sales. Pearson has headed sales efforts as a senior executive for several high-tech companies, including Digital Equipment Corp., Unisys Corp., Novell Inc. and Cabletron Systems.

* Henry Hernandez has been named vice president of sales and marketing at Hearten Medical Inc. in Tustin. He was formerly vice president of marketing at Cordis Webster Inc., and held senior-level positions with Pfizer and American Hospital Supply Corp.

* Kip Simonson has been appointed vice president of marketing at Cox Communications, Orange County, based in Rancho Santa Margarita. He had been director of sales. Before joining Cox, Simonson was with Century Communications and Airtouch Cellular. Martha Ann Zajic was named vice president of public relations. She joined the company in July as director of public relations, after working at Sprint PCS and Disneyland. Colleen Langner, formerly manager of marketing-video services, was appointed director of marketing, retail and sales.

* Greg Flood has been named president and chief executive of buyproduce.com in Irvine. He was previously senior vice president of marketing and sales at Grimmway Farms, a producer of carrots. Flood succeeds founder and former executive Brent Keefer, who will focus on strategic development.

* Terrance McGovern has been appointed to the board of the Orange County High School of the Arts as a member of the executive committee and vice chairman of the finance committee. He is a managing partner at the financial advisory firm of BCC Capital Partners LLC.

* Eugene Guazzo is the new head chef at the Crazy Horse Steakhouse in the Irvine Spectrum Center. He was formerly executive chef at the Hop City Steakhouse and Blues Club in Anaheim. Guazzo also owned his own restaurant, Mamma Lucia in Fairfax, Va., and was the executive chef at Charley’s Crab in Washington, D.C.

* David R. Parsley has been named senior vice president, supply chain management for Prandium Inc. in Irvine, an operator of more than 300 restaurants. Parsley joined the company in 1996 after serving as vice president of purchasing and distribution for Panda Management. He was also vice president of purchasing and distribution at Carl’s Jr. restaurant operations and a purchasing manager for Denny’s Inc.