Buffalo, N.Y. ( October 3, 2011) First Niagara Financial Group named Ram Shankar senior vice president and senior director of investor relations. Shankar previously was vice president senior analyst at FBR Capital Markets, where he served as vice president, senior analyst in the Bank Equity Research Group. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India and his MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Hillside Family of Agencies, a family and child services organization, appointed Sally Crowley Western Region marketing manager. Crowley, who has an extensive 25-year marketing communications background, most recently ran her own marketing communications consultancy, Sally Crowley Marketing. She is a University at Buffalo graduate.
Pinnacle Orthopedic&Spine Associates, an orthopedic surgery practice located in downtown Buffalo, named Dr. Zair Fishkin, a board certified orthopedic surgeon, a partner. Fishkin completed his spine fellowship at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases and has been practicing at Pinnacle Orthopedics for the last 18 months.
Hodgson Russ named Patrick E. Fitzsimmons an associate in the firm’s corporate and securities practice group in the Buffalo office. Previously, Fitzsimmons was a corporate associate in the New York City office of Ropes and Gray. While studying at the University at Buffalo School of Law, he served as a student law clerk for Honorable John T. Curtin in the United States District Court, Western District of New York.
Wendel, a Buffalo-based design firm, appointed Marlene Connor director of public transportation planning and Jim McLaughlin public transportation specialist. Connor has more than 30 years of experience in the public and private sector, including serving as the administrator of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority in Springfield, Mass. McLaughlin has 10 years experience in the private sector following public sector work for several agencies in the Los Angeles area, including LA DOT and the LA MTA. Buffalo Niagara Partnership appointed Thomas Murdock senior director and promoted Christina Lopez to manager workforce development. Murdock previously worked for Deloitte Consulting in New York and United Technologies Corp. in Chicago. A Miami University graduate, he holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. Lopez recently worked in member relations and led the Partnership’s employer outreach program. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Buffalo State College. The agency also named Paul Terranova area account executive. A University at Buffalo graduate, he previously served as area retail sales leader at KeyBank.
AAA Western and Central New York named Laura Wahler marketing communications manager. Wahler most recently served as the assistant manager of club publishing in the marketing department. She will serve as online editor for AAA.com and oversee the production and content of Member Connection, AAA’s quarterly travel and tourism magazine. A Texas Christian University graduate, Wahler has been features editor of the Niagara Gazette. The organization also named Barbara Hughes general manager of Horizon Club Tours, the club’s group travel services division. Previously, she served as a senior manager of Group Travel for Horizon Club Tours.
M. J. Peterson named Frank A. Lattanzio Jr. the company’s new IT systems administrator. Lattanzio is responsible for all aspects of the company’s IT needs, from computer support to network administration. He has more than 10 years of experience in the IT industry.
Travers Collins, a Buffalo-based marketing communications firm, named Katie Corbut an account coordinator. Corbut recently received her bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Most recently, she was an intern with Martino Flynn, an integrated marketing communications agency in Rochester.
http://www.buffalonews.com/business/on-the-record/business-people/article578854.ece
