Richard Surratt was appointed senior vice president and CFO of ProQuest Co.
Before joining ProQuest Co., Surratt was executive vice president, CFO and treasurer of Independence Air. During his initial tenure from 1999 to 2002, the business grew rapidly to $760 million. After the Sept. 11, he was instrumental in implementing the change to an independent carrier with more than 600 departures a day in North America.
Prior to Independence Air, Surratt was with Mobil Corp. for nine years, where he was promoted through a series of financial positions in corporate finance, accounting and new business development. He gained international experience in his role as treasurer for Mobil’s Latin America operations at a time when the company invested more than $2 billion in that region. He also gained experience in mergers and acquisitions as the lead finance member of Mobil’s M&A team during its merger with Exxon Corp.
“Richard is a seasoned financial leader with broad experience in varied business situations, from large multinational to mid-cap companies,” says ProQuest chairman and CEO Alan Aldworth. “I am confident his skills will add significant value to ProQuest’s growth and portfolio management strategies.”
Surratt earned an MBA from Stanford University and a master of science degree in engineering from George Washington University. He is also a CPA.
BrassCraft
BrassCraft promoted Peter Kattula to vice president, supply chain and planning.
He was previously vice president, operational planning. He will also retain responsibility for his current operations strategy initiatives at BrassCraft.
Kattula joined BrassCraft parent company Masco in 2000 as an operational services consultant and previously held various supply chain and industrial engineering positions with Ford Motor Co.
He earned an engineering degree from Michigan State University and received an MBA from Wayne State University.
BrassCraft manufactures water supplies and other plumbing products for the wholesale and retail markets.
ProQuest Co.
Ron Klausner was appointed president of ProQuest Education Businesses.
He previously worked as president of ProQuest Information and Learning and as acting president of Voyager Expanded Learning.
Klausner joined the company in 2003 and is responsible for improving the results of higher education and news businesses across Information and Learning’s global library markets. He also expanded the company’s presence in the K-12 market through acquisitions.
David Prichard was appointed president, higher education and library businesses, for Information and Learning.
Prichard previously worked as senior vice president, Information and Learning global sales.
Prior to that, he worked for LexisNexis from 1995 to 2003, where he held a number of senior management positions.
Prichard earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Towson University.
Urban Science
Jack Bowen joined Urban Science, a leading global consulting firm, as chief marketing office.
Bowen was previously general director of GM/CRM, General Motors Corp.’s CRM organization, since 2003 and responsible for GM’s interactive marketing and advertising.
As general director of GM/CRM, Bowen was responsible for all of GM’s online and search advertising for its dealer Web-publishing service, the development of online shop-and-buy tools and marketing for GM Web publishing. He also oversaw GM’s third-party sales lead consolidations.
Bowen spent 10 years with Leo Burnett Advertising as a vice president, account director and supervisor, handling national accounts such as United Airlines, Kraft-General Foods, Sony, Black & Decker, Swift and Procter & Gamble.
He served as an aviation captain, platoon leader and pilot in the U.S. Army in the early 1980s after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., with a bachelor of science degree in general engineering and a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.
AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION
Bethany Thayer of Health Alliance Plan was named national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Thayer is one of approximately two dozen national ADA volunteer spokespersons and the only one in Michigan.
Thayer has extensive experience as a media spokesperson on a local and national basis. She began participating in media interviews when she became a registered dietitian in 1989, and she served as a spokeswoman for the Michigan Dietetic Association from 2003 to May 2005. Her areas of specialty include obesity, cardiovascular nutrition, diabetes, healthy cooking techniques and children’s nutrition.
In Thayer’s position as customer segment coordinator at Health Alliance Plan, she develops and implements health and nutrition-related programs for women and parents. She serves as editor of the HAP Wise Woman magazine, a full-color magazine for female HAP members ages 35 to 54. She also created HAP’s weight management program, Weight Wise. More than 3,700 HAP members have participated in the program since it was launched in 2004.
Thayer earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, and a master’s degree in exercise science from Oakland University.
