Leibel Named AST Research Senior Vice President
* Dennis Leibel has been named senior vice president for legal, tax and treasury operations at AST Research Inc., an Irvine personal computer manufacturer. He joined the company in 1985 as treasurer. Before that, Leibel was vice president of tax and financial planning at Smith International, a drilling equipment manufacturer.
* Karen Garza has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing for National Contracts Inc., a Rancho Santa Margarita consulting firm for the health care industry. She previously held sales and marketing positions with Baxter Healthcare Corp. for almost 14 years. Garza was also with American Hospital Supply Corp. in Miami.
* Tom Berry has been selected director of compensation and benefits for Ingram Micro Inc., a Santa Ana wholesale distributor of microcomputer products. Prior to joining the company, he was director of compensation and benefits for Harrah’s Casino Hotels in Reno, Nev., and served in the same capacity at AST Research Inc.
* Frank Licata has been named general manager of Tutto Mare restaurant in Newport Beach. He was formerly general manager at other Orange County restaurants, including Diva, Bistro 201, the former Cano’s in Newport Beach, and Studio Cafe in Corona del Mar.
* Mark F. Williams has been appointed marketing manager for TLC Services Inc. in Santa Ana, which provides contract labor and other human resource management services, and its affiliate, DNA Labor Services Inc. Williams previously worked in advertising and fine art promotions for several public art galleries and art publications.
* Don Jones has joined the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach as director of sales. Jones joined the hotel chain in 1986 as a sales manager at Houston Center. After that, he was associate regional director of sales in the New York office, and opened the Atlanta sales office in 1991.
* Al Richardson has been named vice president of sales and marketing for U.S. and international markets for Pharma Botanixx in Irvine, a distributor of Chinese pharmaceutical herbal extracts. He was formerly marketing director of worldwide operations for Nichii Co. of America.
* Marianne R. Nahin has been named vice president, major accounts for Benchmark Business Systems Inc. in Huntington Beach. Before joining the company, she was with Xerox Corp. for 22 years, most recently as national account operations manager for West Coast government sales.
* Ian Nielsen-Jones has been appointed president and chief operating officer of CUE Paging Corp., an Irvine company that provides messaging services in North America and Asia. He succeeds Sandra Kaiser, who has left the company. Nielsen-Jones was previously president of the Ontario Lottery Corp. and Rank Canada Inc.
* Robert M. Fitzgerald, controller for Pimco Advisors L.P. in Newport Beach, has assumed the additional title of senior vice president-finance. He will have overall responsibility for the partnership’s corporate financial, tax and accounting functions, taking over from Steven T. Bailey, chief financial officer, who will be leaving the company.
