People on the Move

William Burke III will chair the Springfield College board of trustees for the 2021-22 academic year. A board of trustees member since 2004, he will lead the governing body of the college, which is responsible for major decisions and changes on campus, and comprises an integral part of the progress and advancement of the college. Burke was chief operating officer of Newell Brands, a Fortune 200 global marketer of consumer and commercial products with worldwide sales of more than $10 billion. The company has a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Yankee Candle, Sharpie, Paper Mate, Parker, Elmer’s, Yankee Candle, Coleman, Marmot, Rawlings, Oster, Sunbeam, Mr. Coffee, Graco, Baby Jogger, Calphalon, Contigo, First Alert, Jostens, and Rubbermaid. Burke’s 13-year career with Newell Rubbermaid started as president of American Saw, where he was recruited to integrate a privately held company, Lenox, into Newell Rubbermaid. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College (now Loyola University), and also received an MBA from Loyola College Sellenger School of Management.

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The Royal Law Firm recently welcomed attorneys Jaclyn Cronin and Jeremy Saint Laurent to its team. Cronin received her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Connecticut State University and her juris doctor from Western New England University School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in the state of Connecticut. Saint Laurent joins the firm with extensive litigation experience, having worked as the head of the Litigation department for the city of Springfield. The Royal Law Firm is a boutique, corporation-side-only law firm operating throughout New England.

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Joe Desormier has joined Clayton Insurance Agency as an account executive/producer. Desormier graduated from Granby High School in 2017 and continued his education at Worcester State University (WSU), where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. “I am extremely excited for my journey here at Clayton to finally be underway,” he said. “Having a great team of co-workers by my side to help me along the way will be an incredible benefit, and I look forward to being a productive member of the team.”

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Western New England University (WNE) School of Law Dean Sudha Setty has been elected to serve on the advisory committee of the American Bar Assoc. (ABA) Legal Education Police Practices Consortium. The consortium aims to contribute to the national effort examining and addressing legal issues in policing and public safety, including conduct, oversight, and the evolving nature of police work. The consortium leverages the ABA’s expertise and that of participating ABA-accredited law schools to collaborate on projects to develop and implement better police practices throughout the U.S. The advisory committee provides input and advice concerning the general direction of the consortium, suggests ideas for appropriate law-student participant assignments, and advises on other relevant matters. Setty became dean of the School of Law in 2018 and has served on the faculty since 2006. She is the author of National Security Secrecy: Comparative Effects on Democracy and the Rule of Law and the editor of Constitutions, Security, and the Rule of Law, and has written dozens of articles on national-security law and policy. In 2018, she was elected to membership in the American Law Institute. She is also a founder of the Workshop for Asian-American Women in the Legal Academy, an effort to support current and aspiring members of the legal academy and to diversify its ranks, which held its inaugural workshop in 2021.

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Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced that Attorney Erica Flores has been recognized as one of the 2021 Top Women of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. She will be honored at an award ceremony recognizing the top 50 female legal professionals in Massachusetts on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at Boston Marriot Copley Place. Flores has been with Skoler Abbott since 2013 and was named a partner earlier this year. She defends employers in single-plaintiff and class-action litigation involving claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, wage and hour violations, contract disputes, and other employment issues. She also advises clients with respect to compliance challenges, personnel policies, and day-to-day employment issues, and provides custom training programs and materials on a variety of important topics, including sexual harassment, paid and unpaid leave, and ADA accommodations. Flores has been an invited speaker at educational events sponsored by local chambers of commerce, the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast, the CMEA Employers Assoc., and other organizations, and has been published in BusinessWest, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Massachusetts Law Review. She is also an editor of and contributor to the New England Employment Law Letter and volunteers her time as president of the board of directors of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Greenfield Savings Bank Wealth Management and Trust Services named Janice Ward first vice president and trust officer. She joins GSB Wealth Management and Trust Services with more than 19 years of experience in the industry, and will assist clients with financial-planning, estate-settlement, and trust-administration services throughout the Western Mass. area, including the Berkshires. Ward graduated from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She then received a juris doctor degree at Western New England University and has been a licensed attorney in both Massachusetts and New York since 2005. In 2012, she earned the designation of certified financial planner. She is the co-founder of the Berkshire County Estate Planning Council, and after serving as president for five years, she is currently a director. She has many active professional connections with CPAs, attorneys, investment and insurance professionals, and financial planners throughout Franklin, Hampshire, Hamden, and Berkshire counties.

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Florence Bank promoted Jennifer Halpin to the position of assistant vice president, Human Resources and affirmative action manager at the main office in Florence. Halpin is a seven-year employee of Florence Bank who brings extensive knowledge and skills to her new position, in which she will lead and direct the routine functions of the Human Resources department, including hiring and interviewing, payroll administration, benefits, and overseeing and implementing the bank’s equal-employment opportunity and affirmative-action policies and plans. During her tenure at the bank, she has been the recipient of the President’s Award, which is given to employees who demonstrate superior levels of performance, customer service, and overall contribution to the bank. Halpin holds an associate degree in business administration from Berkshire Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UMass Amherst.

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Morgan Stanley announced that John Pappas, a financial advisor in the firm’s Springfield Wealth Management office, has been named to Forbes magazine’s list of Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors. The Forbes listing is a select group of individuals who were born in 1981 or later, have a minimum of four years of industry experience, and lead — or are viewed as potential leaders of — their teams. The ranking, developed by Forbes’ partner, SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, weighing factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience, and best practices learned through telephone and in-person interviews.

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Holyoke Community College (HCC) recently welcomed Nathan Leveille as its new staff associate of Grants Development and Management. Leveille, an HCC graduate from the class of 2001, returns to the college with more than 15 years of experience in grants development and management through his positions at Springfield Technical Community College, where he had worked as grants manager and staff assistant in the Development Office since 2005. He started his position in the office of Resource Development at HCC on Oct. 18. After graduating from HCC with his associate degree in liberal arts, Leveille went on to Westfield State University for his bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration in public and corporate communications.

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In an effort to defend science and combat misinformation, Richard Peltier, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, has started writing a free, weekly newsletter called Up in the Air on Substack, a digital subscription newsletter platform. Peltier, an expert in air pollution, aims to offer “objective analysis of science — mostly air quality and health, but occasionally dipping my toes in other directions where I might have something to say.” He conducted urgent research at the start of the pandemic to test whether healthcare workers could safely reuse face masks designed for one-time use. In general, using innovative approaches and novel designs and applications of instrumentation, he focuses his research on advancing knowledge of particulate matter and its impact on human health. Peltier’s expertise is often sought by national media outlets and such agencies as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, for which he serves on the Global Air Pollution and Health Technical Advisory Group. Subscribe for free at 20000breaths.substack.com/about.