Posted on September 30, 2012

People in the News (9/30/12): Appointments and Promotions

The Philanthropic Ventures Foundation has announced the appointment of JAMES HIGA as executive director. Higa, former senior director of the office of the CEO at Apple, helped start Apple Japan and was a member of the Unicode working group that established the universal character-encoding system. The appointment marks PVF's first change in leadership since it was founded by BILL SOMERVILLE in 1991.

Indiana University has announced the appointment of EUGENE TEMPEL as founding dean of its new school of philanthropy, pending approval from the university's board of trustees. Tempel, who becomes a senior fellow at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University on October 1, led the Indiana University Foundation for four years. Previously, he was executive director of the Center on Philanthropy and had been integrally involved with it since its inception in 1987.

The Women's Funding Network has announced the appointment of RUTH-ANNE RENAUD as director of external affairs. Renaud, currently a freelance marketing executive, earlier served as vice president of interactive marketing and as vice president of women's philanthropy at Opportunity International. Earlier, she was director of marketing at Event 360 Inc., director of product management at AT&T, and an account manager at Allred Marketing.

The Moyer Foundation has announced the addition of five Seattle business leaders to its board of trustees, bringing the total number of trustees to thirteen. The new trustees are DAVIS C. BAE, an attorney and partner at the Seattle office of Jackson Lewis LLP; STEVEN GUGGENHEIMER, corporate vice president at Microsoft; BERTIL O. LUNDH, founder of Bertil O. Lundh Construction and the Porcelain Gallery, Inc.; MARK MADGETT, managing partner of New York Life's Seattle office; and GEOFF WHITE, a financial advisor in Seattle.

In other news, PND notes the passing of NORMAN A. BROWN, a former president and chief operating officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, on September 25. Brown joined the foundation in 1984 as a program director in agriculture and rural development, serving in the United States and Latin America. He rose through the ranks to become executive vice president of the foundation in 1986, president in 1988, and president and chief operating officer in 1992, before retiring in 1994. Under his leadership the foundation assumed a leadership role in volunteerism, private philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector; expanded its influence internationally, especially in southern Africa; and worked to diversify its staff long before such efforts became expected. Brown also was a recognized civic leader involved in the Battle Creek United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program, Southwest Michigan Council of Boy Scouts of America, and the Calhoun County Red Cross. Nationally, he served as a trustee for the Points of Light Foundation, Independent Sector, and the Council on Foundations. Internationally, he served as president of the board of EARTH College in Costa Rica. "Norm made the lives of countless people better and he will be long-remembered by this organization and the Battle Creek community with fondness and gratitude," said current foundation president and CEO Sterling Speirn.