Gutshall Named President of Palo Alto Drug Maker
Thomas L. Gutshall will join CV Therapeutics, an emerging biopharmaceutical company based on molecular cardiology, as president and chief operating officer. He will report to Louis G. Lange, chairman and chief executive. Gutshall, 56, will join the Palo Alto firm in January. He was also elected to CV’s board, effective immediately. He has been executive vice president of Syntex Corp.
Benjamin Benya has been named media director for Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. He will be in charge of all the advertising agency’s Los Angeles-based accounts except Nissan Motors. Benya previously was senior vice president of media and broadcast relations at Teleprograms Marketing Inc.
Robert S. Leff has resigned as co-chairman and senior vice president of business development at Merisel Inc. to pursue personal interests. Leff co-founded Merisel’s predecessor company, Softsel Computer Products Inc., in 1980. The El Segundo-based company is a leading wholesale distributor of microcomputer hardware and software products. Leff said he had been planning his retirement for six months and the timing seemed right.
Doug Murphy has been appointed vice president of the Walt Disney Gallery, a unit of the Disney Store Inc. in Glendale. Murphy joined the Disney Store in September, 1991, as manager of new business development. In April, 1993, he was named to head business development of the Disney Store, a unit Walt Disney Co., Burbank.
Donald C. De Vore has joined Pasadena-based Right Associates as vice president of client services at the human resources consulting firm. De Vore was previously founder and president of the Corporate Executive Outplacement Group in Los Angeles.
E for M Corp. has appointed Ian G. Walker senior vice president and chief financial officer. Before joining the Torrance-based cardiology equipment and supply company, Walker was vice president-Finance Europe for ICN BioMedicals Inc. in Costa Mesa.
Louis A. Kwiker has joined Bristol Farms Gourmet Specialty Food Markets as chairman and chief executive in a change in ownership. The current owner and president, Irv Gronsky, will continue to participate in daily operations of the Torrance-based firm as vice chairman. Kwiker has operated as a retail consultant for Kidd, Kamm & Co. since 1993. He is the former president and CEO of Wherehouse Entertainment Inc.
Matthew Chan has joined Novellus Systems Inc. as president of Novellus Asia, a new position. He reports to Peter Hanley, executive vice president sales and marketing. Chan is responsible for all of the San Jose firm’s operations on the Asian mainland including Singapore and Taiwan. Most recently he was operations manager for Tektronix Inc.’s Asia southeast operations where he was responsible for the development of sales, training and distribution centers in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Novellus Systems Inc. manufactures, markets and services advanced automated wafer fabrication systems for chemical vapor deposition of thin films.
Bar-Master International of Los Angeles has announced the appointment of Terence D. Crouch as president and chief executive of its Bar-Master and Condiment-Master operations. Crouch previously held positions with Unilever and FMC in Europe, and with Groen, Jackson Products and Multiplex in the United States.
Joel Suarez has been named vice president and chief financial officer of Mission Foods Corp. Suarez previously was vice president of operations, planning and development for three years.
Jay Oken has been promoted to chief financial officer of West Venture Cos. in Encino. Oken will be responsible for the financial operations of both the West Venture Homes and West Venture Commercial divisions of the company. Oken joined West Venture in 1991 as controller.
Alan Puzarne has been appointed vice president at Los Angeles for Blue Shield of California, a new position. Previously, Puzarne was vice president of Medi-Cal Systems for FHP Healthcare.
