Banking Tammy Choate was promoted to assistant vice president and banking center manager for Empire Bank’s Glen Isle shopping center branch. Choate has 28 years of banking experience and will manage the branch’s retail and business development.
Education Drury, Evangel and Southwest Baptist universities are among the beneficiaries of a $16,000 grant to the Missouri Colleges Fund. The grant comes from Novus International and will fund a need-based scholarship of $1,000 at each member school.
SBU awarded honorary doctorate degrees in divinity to Chaplain and Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver and Brig. Gen. Parker Thompson.
Carver, a Georgia native and Southern Baptist minister, entered the ministry after six years of active duty and became an army chaplain in 1984. Among numerous assignments, he has served with the 101st Airborne Division.
Thompson graduated from SBU in 1946 with an associate arts degree. In 1980, he received a doctorate in ministry from Philadelphia’s Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and retired from the military. Thompson is a pastor, Vietnam veteran and Bronze Star recipient, and has been honored by the United Nations and the United States.
Drury political professor Jeff VanDenBerg received a 2011–12 Fulbright fellowship. He will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Slovenia this spring, as well as furthering his research on Islam in Europe.
Springfield Public Schools appointed three principals: Stacye Manlove at Twain Elementary, John Mott at Campbell Elementary and Joshua Groves at Cherokee Middle School. Also, Shannon Smith was named assistant principal at Kickapoo High School, moving from the same position at Carver Middle School.
Manlove has been teaching in Springfield since 1998, and has a master’s in educational administration from Missouri State University.
Mott currently serves as an assistant principal in Corpus Christi, Texas, and earned a master’s in special education from Texas A&M University.
Groves is a coach and math teacher at Hillcrest High School.
Tabitha Eutsler, a third-grade teacher at Jeffries Elementary School, was named one of Missouri’s 45 Outstanding Beginning Teachers by the Missouri Association for Colleges of Teacher Education.
Financial Jefferson City-based lender RMI elected longtime board member Lisa Officer of accounting firm McCullough, Officer & Co. LLC as treasurer. RMI’s southwest Missouri loan review committee appointed Barbra Wallace of Empire Bank as chairwoman and Bob Ogden of Great Southern Bank as vice chairman.
Gretchen Cliburn, a supervising adviser with BKD Wealth Advisors LLC, received the certified financial planner designation. The CFP Board of Standards Inc. issues the designation after applicants complete an examination and review process.
Health Care Ozarks Community Hospital was honored as a 4-Star Award Winner Hospital in Inpatient Services for Overall Quality of Care by Professional Research Consultants Inc. Honorees score in the top 25 percent in a national database of patient evaluations.
Five health care providers joined CoxHealth. Dr.Essam Elkady signed on as a specialist in both pulmonology critical care and sleep disorders. A member of the College of Chest Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Physicians, Elkady has studied medicine in Egypt and New Jersey. Dr. Diana Roe joined the CoxHealth Pediatric Center after serving as medical director of Pediatric Urgent Care. Dr. Brian Williams, who is board-certified in family medicine, joined the CoxHealth Family Medicine Residency, moving from CoxHealth Urgent Care. Amanda Bargo and Scott Adler joined as physician assistants for CoxHealth Inpatient Physicians. Adler and Bargo are members of both the American and Missouri academies of physician assistants.
Nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks named Suzee Agee Big Sister of the Year and Ed Douglas Big Brother of the Year at its annual Appreciation Celebration. Ryan Miller and Kristin Nunn received the After School Mentor awards, while Brittni Smith and Mark Sharp were received Meal-Time Buddy awards. Gene Bell was recognized for outstanding service to the organization, and Lisa Slavens was honored for outstanding commitment.
Transportation Prime Inc. Director of Safety Don Lacy, who has worked in driver safety for more than 46 years, was named 2011 Safety Professional of the Year by the Truckload Carriers Association. The award was presented at the annual Safety and Security Annual Divisional Meeting in Tennessee.[[In-content Ad]]
A Springfield couple launched 24-hour fitness center Iron Knights Strafford; Springfield-based Meridian Title Co. LLC made its debut in Mount Vernon; and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in conjunction with the grand opening of Render Flooring LLC.
