Sarah Schroth, the Nancy Hanks senior curator at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, was named the museum's new director. Schroth had been serving as its interim director since November. She succeeded Kimerly Rorschach as the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans director of the museum. Rorschach left to become president of the Seattle Art Museum.

 

Susan Brabeau opened an art studio in Raleigh's Artspace. Her oil paintings have been purchased by the city of Raleigh and have been shown at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh.

 

At the 29th annual Emerging Artists Awards ceremony, the Durham Arts Council presented Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Awards to:

• Christiana Barnett-Murphy, dance
• Stacy Crabill, painting
• Renee Alexander Craft, literature
• Rinku Bhattacharya Das, dance
• Jessica Dupuis, ceramics
• Sarah Goetz, installation
• Stacey L. Kirby, installation and performance
• Suzanne Rousso, music
• Aya Shabu, dance
• Debra Wuliger, painting

 

Eno Gallery, in Hillsborough, is presenting "in dreams," a solo exhibition of new oil paintings by Jennifer Miller, a native North Carolinian who has established her reputation by interpreting the state's Piedmont and coastal landscape for more than 20 years. Miller has turned inward for this new work, reaching for special moments and revisiting her favorite landscape themes. Many of the paintings are amalgams of memories from painting outdoors along the Eno River, Duke Forest, Jordan Lake and Bogue Sound. The exhibition runs through Aug. 26.

 

Burning Coal Theatre Company will open its 17th season with the U.S. Premiere of "The Heretic" by Richard Bean. The production will run Sept. 12-29 at the Murphey School, in Raleigh. Julie Oliver, of Raleigh, will play the lead character, Dr. Diane Cassell. Oliver has appeared in many productions with Burning Coal, including "Jude the Obscure," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Brigadoon," "Good" and "Hair." Emelia Cowans, of Raleigh, will play Catherine Tickell. Cowans most recently appeared at Burning Coal in "Crowns" and "Gee's Bend." Props will be created by Raleigh's Elizabeth Newton.

 

 

 

 

William Peace University, in Raleigh, announced:

• Lara Lee King was promoted to director of student leadership in the Office of Student Services. In her new position, King works directly with university organizations and student groups, including the Student Government Association, Peer Mentors and the Class Council.
• Sarah G. Heenan, a 2008 alumna, was named director of student activities. Heenan oversees the student-involvement component through college activities, campus-wide events and downtown Raleigh-related programming.
• Laura Vick, Ph.D., professor of anthropology, was named professor emeritus. The recognition followed the unanimous approval of the board of trustees. Vick has served the higher education institution for 23 years.

 

The Poole College of Management at N.C. State University, in Raleigh, and SKEMA Business School, in France, announced the inaugural industry advisory board for the dual-degree Global Luxury Management curriculum. The two business schools are teaching this jointly, in collaboration with N.C. State University's College of Textiles. The board includes:

• Lisa Boyles, vice president of sales and marketing, VIETRI, Hillsborough;
• Millie Graham, of Raleigh, vice president of marketing, Peter Millar; and
• Christy L. Phillips, partner, Franklin Street Partners, Raleigh.

 

Lynn Good was elected president and CEO of Duke Energy. She assumed her new role on July 1. She succeeds Jim Rogers, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board until his retirement in December. Good also serves as a director on the Duke Energy board. She was Duke Energy's executive vice president and chief financial officer for four years. She joined Cinergy, a Duke Energy predecessor company, in 2003 following 20 years in senior management at Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen.

 

Mims Distributing Company, a beer distributor that services a nine-county area in and around the Triangle, announced:

• Jennifer Balik was promoted to brand development manager.
• Whitney Wilcox was promoted to promotions manager.
• Paige Gregg was hired as assistant promotions coordinator.

 

SciMetrika, a population health consulting firm, hired Dea Zullo, of Durham, as director of bids and proposals. The firm's customers include many research and public health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Lorna Nahil, managing partner of CFO Enterprise, a consulting firm, launched its Profit Enhancement Practice, tailored to small, mid-market and emerging companies. This program, designed with no upfront fees, delivers revenue enhancement and cost reduction at an affordable rate.

 

Laura Schoppe, president of Fuentek, an Apex-based consulting firm that provides intellectual property and technology transfer services, served as an external expert panelist for the Lab-to-Market Cross-Agency Summit. Sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the summit took place in May.

 

Bethany Butti was named conference services manager for the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club, in Durham.
Butti is responsible for coordinating conferences, meetings, incentive trips and corporate getaways at the hotel's executive conference center.

 

Linda Craft & Team REALTORS' announced:

• Lisa Varona was hired as a buyer and relocation specialist. Lisa joined the team with a background in real estate sales as well as building and construction.
• Muriel Bijeau, a buyer and relocation specialist, earned repeat honors as the team's agent of the month for her work in May. Bijeau was also agent of the month in April.

 

 

 

Catharine Biggs Arrowood, a partner in the Raleigh office of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, was elected president-elect of the N.C. Bar Association. Arrowood will serve as president-elect during 2013-2014 and will become president in June 2014.

 

Ginger Scoggins, P.E., president of Engineered Designs, in Cary, was installed as director and regional chair of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) at its 2013 annual meeting. Scoggins serves on ASHRAE's board of directors and as chair of Region IV, which covers Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

 

Mary Yount, IOM, was hired as the executive director of the Knightdale Chamber of Commerce.

 

The second annual Love, Hope & Strength Fundraiser takes place at Flanders Art Gallery, in Raleigh, on Aug. 10, from 7 to 10 p.m. This year's theme is "Nurturing a Community With Love, Hope and Strength" to emphasize the importance of building a strong community in the fight against spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Cary residents Mimi Chan and Cindy Schaefer are sharing their stories of how the disease has affected their families and how a strong community can change the future of SMA.

 

Hospice of Wake County hired Jeanne Lawson as major gifts coordinator. Lawson is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.

 

Kim Lewey, co-owner of Lewey Landscaping & LawnCare, announced the 2013-2014 board of directors and 2012-2013 award winners for the Greater Raleigh chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. The new board members are:

• President – Kim Lewey, Lewey Landscaping & LawnCare
• President-elect – Erin Cohen, Entrees 4U
• Immediate past president – Sharon Hill, Sharon Hill International
• Treasurer – Tracey Gritz, The Efficient Office
• Director of membership – Ingrid Jones, Impact Meetings and Events
• Director of public policy – Laura Edgerton, Edgerton Immigration Law
• Director of corporate relations – Vera Wright, Legal Placements Specialists
• Programs chair – Pamela Clark, The Thyme Savor
• Mentoring chair – Karen Albright, BodyLase Skin Spa
• Communications chair – Janice Cutler, North Raleigh Florist
• Community relations chair – Jacqui Roth, Walden Businesses
• Member-at-large – Nancy Schwartz, Loblolly Concierge

 

The N.C. Department of Transportation recently received the Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award for its Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day program. The award came from the N.C. chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar. "It's important to get more young women interested in science, technology, engineering and math" said Amy Simes, president of the chapter.

 

The Division of Adult Correction named new leadership for its probation and parole operations in central and eastern North Carolina:

• Kim Williams is administrator in Judicial Division 1, which covers 32 counties in eastern North Carolina.
• Diane Isaacs is leading Judicial Division 2, which covers 21 counties, including the Triangle, and stretches north to Virginia and south to South Carolina.

 

The Governors Club Women's Golf Association, of Chapel Hill, donated proceeds from its annual Golf for the Pink Tournament to Cornucopia Cancer Support Center, in Durham. The contribution will help to ensure that anyone with cancer has access to non-clinical support services. Information about these services is available online at www.cancersupportforyou.org or by calling (919) 401-9333.

 

Susan G. Komen Triangle to the Coast, a nonprofit that raises money to fight breast cancer, added new board members, including Carolyn Carpenter, of Durham, and Jessica Dill, of Raleigh. Carpenter is associate dean and administrator at the Duke Cancer Institute and associate vice president of the Duke University Health System. Dill serves as the manager of the Office of Internal Audits at Duke University.

 

Erin Moye, senior sales manager of the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club, was named president of the Carolinas chapter of Meeting Professionals International.

 

 

Lisa Feierstein, RN, BSN, MBA, co-founder of Sound Sleep Institute of the Triangle, received the Outstanding Nursing Alumnus Award. This honor was presented by the Alumni Association of the Medical College of Virginia. The recipient is recognized as a leader and expert who has contributed to health-related and other groups and has impacted the nursing profession with creativity and innovation.

 

Researchers from N.C. State University, in Raleigh, announced:

• Software that tracks facial expressions can accurately assess the emotions of students engaged in interactive online learning and predict the effectiveness of online tutoring sessions. "This work is part of a larger effort to develop artificial intelligence software to teach students computer science," says Kristy Boyer, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computer science and co-author of a paper on the work. "The program, JavaTutor, will not only respond to what a student knows, but to each student's feelings of frustration or engagement. This is important because research shows that student emotion plays an important role in the learning process."
• A metallic bubble wrap that is lighter, stronger and more flexible than sheet metal and more heat- and chemical-resistant than plastic or other polymer-based bubble wraps has been developed. Potential applications include automobile body panels, the wing edges of airplanes, suitcases, helmets and cases for computers and other electronic devices. "This material does exactly what sheet metal and other bubble wraps do, but better," said Dr. Afsaneh Rabiei, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the lead researcher on the project. "And it won't cost businesses and consumers very much because producing it requires just a few steps."

 

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for children's cancers, announced that it awarded more than $7 million in medical research grants, including an Innovation Award to Corinne Mary Linardic of Duke University. Linardic will use the $250,000 grant to examine rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive cancer of skeletal muscle.

 

Rebecca Kuhns, M.D., opened a psychiatry practice on University Drive, in Durham. A native of Raleigh, graduate of Yale College, and alumna of the UNC School of Medicine, she recently completed her residency training in psychiatry at UNC Hospitals. Kuhns specializes in psychotherapy and provides medication-management services.

 

Christine Lee, M.D., founder of the Eye Institute of N.C., in Durham, is now using the TRULIGN lens implant. It's a presbyopia- and astigmatism-correcting intraocular lens implant for use in cataract surgery. TRULIGN is the first FDA-approved lens to correct both near and far vision. Dr. Lee is one of the first surgeons in the state to provide TRULIGN lens implants for her cataract patients.

 

 

 

Maggie Radzwiller, formerly the owner of several Durham restaurants, introduced Maggie's Conscious Vegan Cuisine. The line is aimed at people whose lives make it difficult to put something delicious and nutritious on the table at dinnertime or to make something to take to the office for lunch. The meals, which are vegan and gluten free, are made without sodium or oils. They're sold in BPA-free plastic jars that are safe for the microwave. Each meal is ethnically inspired so one can enjoy Italy one meal and jump over to Thailand the next. Whole Foods of Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham carries the line.

 

Amanda Gorecki, president and founder of Healing Waters Spa & Cosmetic Clinic, a medical aesthetic clinic, in Durham, announced the launch of seven new wellness and beauty treatments. The spa's new menu includes facials and an expansion to its body-ritual services.

 

Local author Nancy Peacock launches her most recent novel, "The Life & Times of Persimmon Wilson," at Flyleaf Books, in Chapel Hill, Aug. 15; McIntyre's, in Pittsboro, Aug. 24; and Quail Ridge, in Raleigh, Sept. 20. Her first novel, "Life Without Water," was chosen as a New York Times notable book. Peacock has been teaching writing classes in her Chapel Hill studio for 10 years.

 

A book by Annie Lyerly, M.D., MA, "A Good Birth: Finding the Positive and Profound in Your Childbirth Experience," was published. Lyerly is associate professor of social medicine and associate director of the Center for Bioethics at UNC-Chapel Hill. She discusses her book at FlyLeaf Books, in Chapel Hill, on Aug. 1 at 7 p.m.

 

Leceila Turnage, a contemporary women's fiction writer, released her latest novel, "Mercy, Mercy Me." Her stories focus on women living in or near Raleigh.