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Scott Smith has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Vantis Life Insurance Co. in Windsor. He joined Vantis Life in 1998 as vice president of information technology and operations. In 2000, he was appointed senior vice president — operations, and in 2007 was promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Prior to joining Vantis Life, Smith was the vice president/director of systems & technology at New England Bank and Trust Company. Also, Bruce Friedland is now senior vice president and chief actuary.
He joined in 2007 as a vice president and chief actuary. He had been with The Hartford as an assistant vice president. Valerie Taylor will now be assistant vice president of finance. She joined Vantis Life in 2003 as an accounting and compliance manager and in 2009 was appointed senior manager of financial reporting and compliance. Prior to joining Vantis Life, she was the audit manager for Ernst & Young LLP. And Chris Kelly is the new assistant vice president of national wholesaling. He joined Vantis Life in September 2010 as a manager of national wholesaling. He had been a second vice president of sales distribution, life and annuity distribution at Phoenix Life Insurance Company. Vantis has nearly $5 billion of life insurance in force and more than $850 million of assets.
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Jeff McFadden is the new director of engineering at RSL Fiber Systems LLC, an East Hartford-based developer of advanced lighting solutions and integrated illumination systems for military and commercial applications.
He joins RSL after seven years as president of Rogers Associates Machine Tool Corp. in Rochester, N.Y. Previously, he held a variety of senior engineering, technology and management positions with companies including Laird Technologies, Inc. (formerly Instrument Specialties Co., Inc.), A.K. Stamping and Ringfelder Corp. He is the owner of 15 domestic and international patents and has published a variety of articles in engineering technical journals.
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Mary T. Tzambazakis has been named chief administrative officer at the Hartford Public Library, replacing Julio Molleda who was recently named finance director for the City of Hartford. Prior to joining the library, Tzambazakis served as the town manager in Ware, Mass. She also served as the finance director for the City of Springfield, Mass., from 2004 through 2008. She also has worked at CIGNA.
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Donald Mroz, dean of Post University’s School of Business, has added the title of provost of the university. Mroz will be responsible for further aligning the university’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs and academic support services to ensure greater overall academic integrity among all its programs. Before joining the university in Waterbury, Mroz worked on strategy and leadership development with numerous organizations, including schools, and large and small for-profit companies and not-for-profits.
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Patricia M. Hannon has been named vice president, commercial loan officer in TD Bank’s commercial banking operation in New Britain. She will manage a portfolio of middle market commercial and industrial loans serving clients throughout Central Connecticut. Hannon is returning to banking after 14 years as a controller, including the past four years at Stanley Wiesen, Inc. in Hartford. She also was a controller at Axilone USA (NioB Ltd. LLC) in Berlin and was self-employed through Rent-A-Controller. Her prior 11 years of banking experience includes serving as an assistant vice president at Webster Bank/Bristol Savings Bank in Bristol.
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Jackson D. King has been named assistant portfolio manager at Kelly Financial Group / Hammond Iles Wealth Advisors.
He previously held positions as CFO and managing director with DeWitt Holdings, Inc.; portfolio manager with Nations Bank’s Private Client Group, and partner, Equity Options Division at Aegis Specialist, LLC (formally Bear Stearns). Kelly Financial Group has offices in Wethersfield, Old Lyme, and Woodbridge.
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Patricia A. Groves has joined the Social Security Unit of Carter Mario Injury Lawyers. She will serve in the firm’s Harford office as a pre-litigation attorney. Groves comes to Carter Mario Injury Lawyers from a major Social Security and disability law firm based in Los Angeles, CA. Groves is a director of the nonprofit Families United, and is involved locally with the League of Women Voters of Greater Hartford, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Connecticut.
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Kevin P. Downey joined the audit staff at Federman, Lally & Remis LLC in Farmington. He is a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut.
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Attorney Nancy E. Fraser has joined the law firm of O’Connell, Flaherty & Attmore LLC. She practices primarily family law in the firm’s Central Village office. Fraser has been a family counselor while employed in the academic field. The general practice firm has offices in Hartford, West Hartford, Danbury and Central Village as well as in Springfield, Mass.
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Frances G. Padilla has been named executive vice president at the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. She had been vice president for programs, policy and administration at the Meriden-based organization. Prior to joining the foundation in 2004 as the director of programs, she headed up New Paradigms Consulting. She began her career in philanthropy as a program officer at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and later held positions at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Also, Linda Dahlmeyer has been promoted from director of finance and administration to vice president for finance and administration. Dahlmeyer, a certified public accountant, served as associate director of administration and finance for Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency. Jill Zorn has been promoted from program officer to senior program officer responsible for analyzing state and federal health policy trends.
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Marcum LLP has appointed two new partners in its New England practice. Matthew Bavolack has been named principal in the advisory services group. His area of focus includes financial reimbursement, operations and compliance matters for various healthcare providers. He is the firm’s National Healthcare Industry Leader and has over 20 years of healthcare financial consulting experience. Bavolack joined the firm in 1997 and is based in the New Haven office.
Heather B. Bearfield has been named principal in the assurance services group. Bearfield, who joined the firm in 2004, is the National Technology Assurance Services Leader and resides in the Boston office.
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Jeffrey M. Banwell has been named senior manager of consulting and investigations with Security Services of Connecticut Inc. in Shelton. He is a former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will lead SSC’s investigative and corporate espionage engagements.
After 9/11, Banwell lead FBI ConnecticutÂ’s Strategic Partnership and Infrastructure Protection outreach to the business community in Connecticut. Prior to FBI service, Jeff was a branch manager in the security industry and also served as an officer in the Marine Corps.
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Carla Hill has been hired as the assistant curator and interim registrar at The William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Hill earned a master of arts in art history from the University of Connecticut and also holds a technical degree in painting restoration from the Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro, Florence, Italy.Â