Geraldine Mund, a Bankruptcy Court judge in...

Geraldine Mund, a Bankruptcy Court judge in Woodland Hills, has been named the chief judge of the Bankruptcy Court of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Mund will begin her three-year appointment Jan. 1. She succeeds Judge Calvin K. Ashland.

The Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California is the largest in the country, handling more than 100,000 bankruptcy cases a year, more than 10% of those filed in the United States.

There are 21 Bankruptcy Court judges in the Central District, including 10 in downtown Los Angeles and three in the Bankruptcy Court in the San Fernando Valley, which opened last summer in Woodland Hills.

Mund will continue to sit at the Bankruptcy Court in the San Fernando Valley.

* Universal Studios’ consumer products group has hired Timothy E. Rothwell as senior vice president of sales. He will be responsible for expanding the Universal brand in clothing, toys, gifts and home furnishings. Rothwell has a long background in retail sales and previously worked for clothing maker Cherokee and VF Corp., which is the maker of Lee jeans.

Universal also promoted Rosalind Nowicki to vice president of apparel and home furnishings. She was previously senior director of licensing.

John Dumbacher was named to the new position of vice president of retail. Previously he was vice president of sales.

* Tekelec has appointed Dave Frankie vice president for operations. Frankie has 15 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and previously worked at Nortel.

John Kennedy was named Tekelec’s general manager for its data network division. Kennedy previously worked with Nortel, Digital Sound and Fujitsu.

Tekelec, with headquarters in Calabasas, is a supplier of network switching systems for the communications industry.

* Mike Saliba of Camarillo has been named to the board of First National Bank of Ventura.

Saliba is president of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. and serves on the steering committee of the Ventura County Leadership Academy and the advisory committee of the Ventura County Regional Defense Partnership. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the California Western University School of Law.

* Gerald S. Lord of Lord Moving & Storage in Ventura has been awarded the 1996 Melvin D. Duncan Jr. Safe Driving Award by American Red Ball Transit Co. Lord has been a driver in American Red Ball’s fleet since 1990. In addition to a commemorative plaque, Lord will receive a $1,000 savings bond.