Here’s a look at promotions, hirings, movers and newsmakers in the Memphis area business scene:
Benjamyn Elliott, a second-year law student at the University of Memphis, was awarded the Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs law firm’s Benjamin L. Hooks Law Scholarship. The scholarship is given in honor of the late judge and civil rights leader who was the head of Wyatt’s Diversity Practice Group until his death in 2010. Elliott is the fifth recipient of the Benjamin L. Hooks Law Scholarship, which will help to fund his tuition and course-related expenses.
Glankler Brown announced Michael T. Evangelisti has joined the firm as a member. His practice includes general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, securities, commercial transactions, contracts, intellectual property, estate planning and probate.
The law firm of Baker Donelson named Mary Ann Jackson chair of the firm’s Tax Group. A shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Memphis office, she will oversee a team of more than 55 tax lawyers advising and counseling individuals and businesses throughout the United States. While serving in this leadership role, Jackson will maintain her legal practice.
Rhodes College alumna the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells made history Feb. 3, becoming the first woman and first Black person elected as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. Wells will succeed Bishop Brian Seage who has led the diocese since 2014. She will become Bishop elect on May 1, working alongside Seage, and then be ordained on July 20. Wells graduated from Rhodes with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance.
Andrew Todd has joined the Lewis Thomason law firm as an associate attorney in the firm’s Memphis office. Todd is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law. During law school, Todd served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Mark S. Norris in the Western District of Tennessee as well as the Outreach Editor for the Mississippi Sports Law Review. Prior to entering private practice, Todd served as a judicial law clerk, first for Norris, and then in the Southern District of Mississippi for the Honorable David C. Bramlette III. Todd has experience in civil and criminal matters.
Rhodes College was named among the “Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs” (MPPWSA), an annual report produced by newsmagazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education and the ACPA-College Student Educators International. Twenty-two institutions (not numerically ranked) comprised the 2024 MPPWSA, which was published March 14. MPPWSA recognizes student affairs workplaces that are vibrant, diverse, supportive and committed to staff work-life balance, professional development and inclusive excellence. Selection for the national recognition considers responses to a survey conducted by the ACPA-College Student Educators International. The survey covers various issues such as workplace diversity, work environment, family friendliness, salary/benefits and professional development.
— Compiled by Daniel Ginsburg
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