Newsmakers

Judy Green joined Peoples Bank of the Ozarks as branch operation manager for its Springfield location. Green has more than 20 years of experience in the industry.

Community

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Missouri received a $30,000 program expansion grant from the National CASA Association in Seattle. The funds will be used to hire an additional volunteer supervisor, allowing CASA of Southwest Missouri to recruit, train and support 22 more volunteers.

Construction

Springfield Plumbing promoted Brandon Boyd to company vice president and elected him to the company’s board of directors. Boyd’s new management responsibilities include purchasing, estimating, customer service and project management. Boyd has been with the company for 10 years and has a degree in construction technology and master plumber and master gasfitter licenses.

Education

The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board ranked Southwest Baptist University first in the nation for mobilizing student missionaries to serve in North America. The board, located near Atlanta, is the Southern Baptist Convention home mission agency for work in the United States, Canada and U.S. territories.

Missouri State University professors Robert Pavlowsky, John Steiert and Douglas Gouzie were awarded $6,757 for the first phase of the Finley Creek Water Quality Baseline Project. Pavlowsky and Gouzie, assistant professors of geography, geology and planning, are working with Steiert, an MSU biology professor, to evaluate the nature of water quality problems in Finley Creek and make decisions about future pollution control measures and monitoring.

Yungchen Cheng, head of MSU’s mathematics department, was named chair-elect of the Missouri Mathematical Association of America. The MAA is a national organization devoted to promoting education, research, professional development, public policy and public appreciation of the importance of mathematics.

Evangel University students Schuyler Copple, Christina Glowacki and Shaun Swartz joined more than 100 college honors students, fellows and faculty from around the nation in Washington, D.C., for The Washington Center’s first Leaders on Leadership: Critical Issues in the Age of Globalization seminar. The weeklong seminar gave participants the opportunity to explore the impact of public policy issues on society in a global context.

Finance

Nadia Cavner, an executive vice president at Springfield-based The Signature Bank and head of the Nadia Cavner Group at The Signature Bank Investment Services, was ranked No. 13 on the Barron’s magazine Top 100 Women Financial Advisors published June 12. The past two years, Cavner has been chosen among Barron’s Top 100 Brokers in the Nation and Research Magazine’s Top Ranked Women Financial Advisors in the Nation.

Jerrod Stearnes was appointed as a financial representative by Northwestern Mutual Financial Network’s local network office, The Yaktine Financial Group. As financial representative, Stearnes will provide guidance and innovative solutions for a variety of financial needs and goals.

Health Care

Drs. Paul and Priscilla Arnold recently returned from a trip to Russia, where they represented the 9,000 members of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The visit coincided with the 20th anniversary of Fyodorov Eye Institute, whose founder developed the radial keratotomy procedure for near-sightedness.

Insurance

Jason Vincent joined Ollis & Co. as a producing agent in employee benefits. Vincent previously spent four years as a sales manager for the Springfield News-Leader.[[In-content Ad]]