Norstar Appoints 3 to Executive Spots
Ray Ashton has been named chief operating officer of Norstar Communications Inc. in Irvine. Most recently, he was executive vice president of business development for Nortel Networks. Before that, Ashton was executive vice president of the Telecom/Carrier/Internet division at General DataCom Inc.
Robert Friedman has joined the company as senior vice president of operations and technology. He was formerly vice president of operations/information technology for Present Single Billing Services Inc., a subsidiary of New Global Telecom Inc. Before that, Friedman was director of information systems/operations for Moss Software Inc. and president of Pathway Computer Solutions Inc.
Louis Di Gregorio joined the company as vice president of network engineering. He had been vice president of network architecture for Universal Broadband Networks.
* Michael Wildman has been appointed director of franchise operations for El Pollo Loco in Irvine. Before joining the company, he was with Sizzler USA for 25 years, most recently as vice president of franchise operations.
* Kelly L. Olson has been named vice president of marketing and business development in the Irvine office of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Inc. She joined the firm in 1998.
* Kenneth D. DeGiorgio has been named vice president and associate general counsel at First American Corp. in Santa Ana. He will continue as vice president of the company’s principal subsidiary, First American Title Insurance Co. DeGiorgio joined First American in 1999 as regulatory counsel. Max O. Valdes has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president-chief accounting officer. He will retain his duties as chief financial officer of First American Title. After joining First American in 1988, Valdes served as assistant controller, then vice president-controller before being promoted to vice president-chief financial officer in 1998.
* Michael Whalen has joined the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers as a partner in the Newport Beach, Irvine and Menlo Park offices. He was formerly the co-managing principal in Riordan & McKinzie’s Orange County office.
* Tommy Lacerra has been appointed used car sales manager for Tuttle-Click Automotive Group in Irvine. He had been sales manager and used car manager for Tuttle-Click Ford and sales manager for Tuttle-Click’s Tustin Dodge.
* Barry Thompson has been promoted from director of engineering to vice president of engineering at Tustin-based TDK Semiconductor Corp. He is based at the Mountain View design center. Thompson was one of the founders of Sierra Research and Technology Inc., which was acquired by TDK Semiconductor in December.
* Jim Morris has been appointed vice president of business development at Western Digital Corp. in Lake Forest. Morris had been vice president of business development at People PC Inc.
* Bill Hayes has been named vice president, worldwide sales for HNC Insurance Solutions in Irvine, a division of HNC Software Inc. He was formerly vice president of national sales at Cardiff Software and was with American DataMed for six years.
* Ramon Nuno was named production manager for Trinity Golf Inc., a golf club manufacturer in Tustin. Previously, he supervised the factory operation and headed quality control at Alligator Golf. Nuno has also held production and safety posts at Power Golf, Echelon Golf and Tiger Shark.
* Jeanne Cranford, project director for the Costa Mesa office of IA, has been appointed associate at the firm.
* Jody Smith has been appointed vice president at Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc. in Irvine. He has 15 years of experience in commercial insurance. Stacy McDaniel has joined Lockton as a specialist in risk management and claims handling. Previously, she spent 11 years as corporate counsel and risk manager, most recently at Lennar Corp.
* Felix Lin has joined Canterbury Consulting in Newport Beach as an assistant vice president in the consulting practice group. He was formerly with Wilshire Associates in Santa Monica.
* Steve O’Leary has been elected chairman of Worldwide Partners, a business network of marketing and communications firms. O’Leary is president of the T&O; Group in Irvine, which is the Southern California owner of Worldwide Partners.
* Adrian Stevens has been appointed marketing and development director for Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa. He has merchandising, retail marketing and brand management experience with Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Sephora, Brooks Brothers and Marks & Spencer.
* Mark Edward Mazak has been named assistant general manager, finance and administration for Anaheim Public Utilities. He had been assistant general manager, financial services, and treasurer at Turlock Irrigation District and, before that, manager of financial services and chief financial officer for the Orlando Utilities Commission.
