The Georgia Biomedical Partnership (GBP) elected Russell M. Medford, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of its board. Medford is president and CEO of AtheroGenics Inc. The GBP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth of the life sciences industry in Georgia.
Medford became president and CEO of AtheroGenics Inc. in 1995. In addition acting as chairman of the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, he serves on the BioSciences Executive Committee for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Southeastern Life Sciences Association board of directors and the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s Emerging Companies Section governing body. He is an inaugural fellow of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the American Heart Association and has held a number of academic appointments at the Emory University School of Medicine, most recently as clinical professor (adjunct) of medicine.
Medford is a molecular cardiologist whose research has focused on the molecular basis of cardiovascular disease. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University and an M.D. with distinction and a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital and served as a fellow in cardiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he also served on the faculty of Medicine.
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF GEORGIA
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, an operating unit of Wellpoint Inc., appointed Caroline “Caz” Matthews president. She joins the Georgia plan after serving as president of Anthem West, which includes Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Colorado and Nevada.
Matthews replaces John Watts, who was promoted to president of the parent company’s national accounts division. The changes follow the November 2004 merger between Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks that formed the new parent company, WellPoint Inc.
Matthews joined Anthem West in 2000 as COO. Her leadership led Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado to No. 1 in market share and a No. 2 market position for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nevada. She then became president of Anthem West.
She was recognized for her business and community leadership in 2002 by the Denver Business Journal as the Outstanding Woman in Business, and in 2004, was selected by the same publication as CEO of the Year.
Matthews joined Anthem in 1988. In 1992, she was transferred to an Anthem subsidiary, Atlanta-based Acordia of the South, where she became COO and CFO. After her work in Atlanta, she returned to Anthem headquarters in Indiana as vice president of operations for the information technology division and later served as co-chief information officer before assuming her duties at Anthem West.
BALCH & BINGHAM
Former Atlanta Olympic executive A.D. Frazier joined the law firm of Balch & Bingham.
Frazier was COO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games from 1991 to 1996. Recently, Gold Kist Inc. elected him to serve as the nonexecutive chairman of its board of directors.
Frazier retired as a director, president and COO of Caremark Rx Inc. in March 2004, where he served for two years. He has also been chairman and CEO of the Chicago Stock Exchange and president and CEO of INVESCO Inc., a division of Amvescap PLC. He is a past director and a member of the audit committee of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and a director and a member of the compensation committee of Apache Corp., an oil and gas exploration and development company.
Frazier had retired from law, and because his Georgia bar license is inactive, he joins the firm as of counsel and focuses primarily on marketing to the corporate community. Once he renews his license in North Carolina and Georgia, he will take on legal work for the firm, primarily in mediation.
WELLS REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Robert E. Bowers joined Wells Real Estate Funds as CFO. Bowers serves as a key member of the executive committee, providing overall guidance and counsel on the long-term financial structure and strategy of the firm. He also directs the finance, corporate accounting, risk management, investor services and compliance organizations.
Prior to joining Wells, Bowers was a business financial consultant, providing strategic financial counsel to a range of organizations including the University System of Georgia, venture capital funds and public corporations such as NetBank Inc., where he previously was CFO. Prior to NetBank, Bowers was CFO of CheckFree Corp.
He participated in NetBank’s successful IPO and subsequent secondary offerings, and in negotiating the merger of SSI, a Norcross, Ga.-based financial applications company, with CheckFree.
MAPICS INC.
MAPICS Inc. promoted Mike Dolan to general manager of worldwide operations. MAPICS provides customer relationship management and supply chain management software and professional services.
Previously, Dolan was general manager of Thru-Put Corp., a MAPICS business unit, where he oversaw product development, marketing, service, support and distribution of the Thru-Put product. Before joining MAPICS, he was president and CEO of Thru-Put Technologies.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC.
United Parcel Service Inc. promoted Dave Barnes to chief information officer and senior vice president. Previously, he was UPS’ vice president of customer and operations application portfolios in Information Services. He succeeds Ken Lacy, who retired.
Barnes joined UPS in 1977 as a part-time package loader and worked for the company as a part-time supervisor while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Missouri. Upon graduation, he was recruited into the Information Services arena to assist with the deployment of distributed processing accounting systems. By 1984, Barnes was corporate internal audit manager, and in 1986, he worked on the start-up team for UPS Airlines, now the world’s 11th largest airline.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he held a number of management positions as UPS began its global expansion efforts. Barnes returned to corporate headquarters in 1997 to serve as the international financial systems controller and became the head of UPS Customer Information Management in 1998.
