William Lyon, chairman and chief executive officer...

William Lyon, chairman and chief executive officer of the William Lyon Co., Newport Beach, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AirCal and a retired major general in the United States Air Force, has been elected to USC’s board of trustees.

Rod Gilliland, formerly a vice president of sales and marketing at the Desert Princess Country Club and Resort in Cathedral City, has been appointed to the same position at Coto de Caza residential and resort community in Orange.

James J. Allyn has been appointed chief financial officer of Stolte Inc. He previously served for two years as chief financial officer in Charles Pankow Inc.’s Altadena office, preceded by five years as controller in the Honolulu office.

Dudley L. Herndon III has been named president of AMC Financial, the mortgage banking division of A-M Co., Santa Barbara, and will direct the operation from offices in Westlake Village. Sandy Martin is the new director of marketing for the Southern California region of the parent company.

Ronald A. Lloyd has been named development manager for Legacy Development Co., Newport Beach.

Norma Gutierrez, a financial analyst at the Hammond Co., Newport Beach, has been promoted to assistant vice president and marketing director, Builder Bond Department.

William A. Kellar has joined the Newport Beach office of the Planning Center as its community development specialist. He was president of his own planning firm in San Francisco.

Kim Burst has joined Phillips Houston Design Associates, San Diego, as its director of marketing.

Kenneth A. Kneale Sr., senior vice president and manager of the Merrill Lynch Commercial Real Estate office in Los Angeles, has been invited to join the Southern California chapter of the Society of Industrial Realtors Inc.

Michael Bossana has been promoted to senior design administrator at Schumacher Building Co., San Diego.

Patrick Brown has been promoted to assistant vice president at First Interstate Mortgage Co., Income Property Division Pasadena headquarters.

Paul Koehler has been appointed partner and director of the Real Estate Industry Group for the Los Angeles office of Laventhol & Horwath, Los Angeles.

Shea Kirshner, formerly with SBI Development, has been appointed business development manager at M. J. Brock & Sons Inc., Los Angeles.

Charles D. Atwood has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Sotheby’s International Realty, a subsidiary of Sotheby’s Holdings. Atwood was co-founder of Merrill Lynch Realty and Merrill Lynch Relocation Management.

L. Stephen Ridenour, former executive vice president of Dicker-Warmington Properties, Fullerton, has been named vice president of development and marketing for T & S Development Inc., Riverside, currently developing the 400-acre Canyon Springs regional project.

Heidi Mickelson and Akido Maeda have joined the Society of Industrial Realtors. The two women are two of only three female members of the group’s Southern California chapter.

Harvey E. Green, the Encino-based Marcus & Millichap regional manager, has been appointed a vice president of the Palo Alto-based corporation.

Clifford Colson has been named vice president of Arnel Development Co., Santa Ana.

The following have joined the staff of Transpacific Development Co., Torrance: Thomas E. McCarthy, formerly with National Bank of Chicago, director of finance; Scott Chenoweth, formerly with Columbia Savings & Loan, controller in the asset management department; Dale Hobson, formerly with Transpacific Development, director of asset management, and Roberta Gilligan, formerly with Westgroup Inc., director of financial controls.

Robert R. Hervey has been promoted to vice president/chief appraiser at First Interstate Mortgage Co., Pasadena. He has been with the firm for 13 years.

Scott O’Brien and Robert Pigati have been named principals at Walker Associates Inc., Los Angeles.

Terria L. Wright has been appointed vice president of loan service for Gibraltar MoneyCenter Inc., San Diego.

Bettina Tryforos has been promoted to vice president of design services for Carole Eichen Interiors Inc., Santa Ana.

John E. Johnson has joined Real Estate Research Corp., Los Angeles, as vice president and director of appraisal services.

Grant B. Cooper Jr. has been named an associate of McGranahan Carlson & Co. Investment Builders. He will be originating new projects in Southern California and will be based in Orange County.

Janet J. Ford, formerly with J & J Enterprises, Newport Beach, has been named director of marketing for Majestic Realty Co., Los Angeles.

Richard R. Betchley, former chairman, president and executive officer of People’s Mortgage Co. of Seattle, and also a senior vice president of marketing and regional activities at the Federal National Mortgage Assn. in Washington, D.C., has joined CompuFund Inc., Santa Ana, as president and chief executive of Network Funding Corp.

Developer Lee Danielson has been named vice president with Cal Fed Enterprises, Los Angeles, the commercial and industrial real estate subsidiary of California Federal Savings & Loan Assn.

Stephen P. Sandland has been promoted to director of development of the Irvine Hotel Co., Newport Beach.

Three new vice presidents have been named by Watt Management Co., Santa Monica. They are Smokey Echols, director of leasing; Beverly Rogenberg, director of the office building division, and Gale Zander, director of shopping center and industrial park divisions.

Beverly Nielsen has been named project sales manager at Brisas Del Mar in Del Mar.

Maria D. Lopez, an architect from Mexico, has joined the Ontai Partnership as design/assistant project manager.

Bill Persky has been named controller for commercial development firm of Oliver McMillan, San Diego.

Jon Waldron has been appointed manager of the property management division of the George Elkins Co., Beverly Hills.

Rayne Sherman, president of the Sherman Design Group, Long Beach, has been named to a three-year term on the Advisory and Development Council of the School of Applied Arts & Sciences at Cal State Long Beach.

Barbara Lord has joined Roni Hicks & Associates Inc., San Diego, as vice president/media relations.

Roger Merryman has been named Southern Regional Sales Manager for World Title Co.

Jeffrey L. Bentz has been named director of planning for Project Design Consultants, San Diego.

John A. Kilduff has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer for Leisure Technology, Los Angeles.