Here’s To

Jim Newman,

owner and managing partner of Newman Consulting Group LLC (NCG) in Farmington Hills, was honored as a Fellow of the international ASHRAE organization, which recognizes members who have attained distinction and made substantial contributions in HVAC&R and the built environment such as education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications, presentations and mentoring.

Pam Cooper is vice president of the Escalent Energy division, based in Livonia, and serves as the company’s Qualtrics partnership manager. She is a valued adviser to clients in the solar energy, electric vehicle and energy efficiency industries and oversees key business development activities, for electric, gas and water utilities in the U.S.

The firm of Howard & Howard announced that attorney Lisa S. Gretchko has been appointed to serve as a judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. She joined Howard & Howard in 2003.

Dr. Helen

Edelberg joined the Office of New Drugs (OND)/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as deputy director for safety. This is a new position, focused on helping the FDA to further develop its post-market safety efforts. Edelberg, is a past member of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township, where her parents, Adrian and Mynetta Christie, still belong.

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute announced the winners of its 2021 Heroes of Cancer Awards. The Geri Lester Courage Award honors an individual, living or deceased, whose battle with cancer has been an inspiration to family, friends and community. This year’s honoree is the late Jeffrey D. Forman, M.D., FACR. He spent his life and career helping people with cancer, working for 35 years as a radiation oncologist and holding multiple professional appointments during his 14-year career at Karmanos. He loved his role as a physician and treated every patient with kindness, respect, understanding and humor. After becoming a cancer patient and undergoing a bone marrow transplant, he had a whole new outlook on cancer. He became a part of the Karmanos Cancer Institute’s fundraising team to help inform community members about the important lifesaving work being done at Karmanos. His passion for helping patients, informing the community and raising funds to further cancer research was inspiring.

The Third Judicial Circuit Court (Wayne County) announced the Michigan Supreme Court has appointed the Hon. David A. Groner to the Third Circuit Court’s Business Court. He will serve as a Business Court judge for a term expiring April 1, 2025. He served in the Criminal Division for 14 years; for the past four years, he has served in the Civil Division, where he has handled specialty dockets such as structured settlements in addition to the traditional docket. Judge Groner was the University of Michigan Mentor of the Year 2007 and received the State of Israel Bonds Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award in 2006.

Honigman LLP announced

Richard

Zuckerman has rejoined its White-Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group as a partner in the firm’s Detroit office. He most recently served as head of the Tax Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Zuckerman has represented executives in national and international civil and criminal antitrust matters involving a variety of industries, from computer software and pharmaceutical to financial services, among others.

Frankel Jewish Academy alumnus (class of 2015) Ami Zuroff was nominated as an excellent soldier by the president of Israel. President Reuven Rivlin hosted the annual Independence Day ceremony at his official residence on Yom HaAtzmaut to award the army’s annual citations for distinguished service to 120 Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

Sara Gorman

Rajan has joined the legal team as associate attorney and mediator at Transitions Legal, a family law firm with specialties in collaborative divorce, gray divorce, and mediation in Bloomfield Township. With 17 years of experience as a family law attorney with an expertise in litigation, Rajan has worked at firms throughout Metro Detroit, served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Helene J. White at the Michigan Court of Appeals and in law school, interned with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office under Nancy J. Diehl.