Brooklyn's Progress
October/November 2007

BANKING/FINANCE
Commerce Bank: Commerce announced that Mark J. Olear joined the bank’s senior leadership team as Senior Vice President and Director of Real Estate Development.
Prior to joining Commerce, Mr. Olear was responsible for developing Home Depot retail locations throughout the Eastern U.S. and the Caribbean. For more than a decade, he developed successful locations for the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

“Mark’s real estate development expertise with a successful national retailer will be a valuable asset as we move forward with the expansion of the Commerce store network,” said Commerce Bank N.A. Chairman Dennis DiFlorio.

In the newly created Director of Real Estate Development position, Olear will oversee the development of new store locations throughout Commerce’s expanding footprint.

HEALTHCARE
Lutheran Hospital: Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) announced the appointment of Fausto Y. Vinces, D.O., as chief of Trauma and Critical Care Services, and program director for the Osteopathic General Surgery Residency Program.

Dr. Vinces, who previously served as director of Trauma and Critical Care at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, is a board-certified surgeon and clinical instructor at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of New York Institute of Technology. He completed his general surgery residency at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and a trauma and surgical critical care fellowship at Lincoln Medical and Health Center. He received his osteopathic medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996 and a bachelor of science degree from Mercy College in 1992 where he graduated magna cum laude.

Long Island College Hospital: Dr. Tucker Woods has been appointed the Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn. He has been an active part of the LICH Emergency Department since 2000.  Dr. Woods actively participates in many committees at LICH, and is the co-chair of the hospital’s Ethics Committee. In addition to emergency medicine, his areas of expertise and interest include NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) emergencies, emergency preparedness, toxicology, trauma, hospital ethics and organ donation. 

Dr. Woods came to LICH in 1999 after completing an emergency medicine select-track internship and residency at St. Barnabas Hospital/Union Hospital in the Bronx.  He holds a medical degree from Nova Southeastern University, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Florida.  He subsequently relocated to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, where he now resides.

EDUCATION:
City University of New York – Brooklyn College: Gretchen Maneval, a widely respected city planner and national housing expert has assumed the role of director of the Center for the Study of Brooklyn. Ms. Maneval joins the Center after working for five years with the Fifth Avenue Committee, a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit organization.

The Center for the Study of Brooklyn is the first academic research center devoted exclusively to the study of public policy issues in Brooklyn. It is a primary source of independent, non-partisan research on the complex issues facing the borough and its 2.5 million residents.

Ms. Maneval has a Masters in City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction from the University of Virginia. Ms. Maneval has developed public housing policy at the federal level, first as senior research consultant with Accenture in HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, and then as senior research analyst with the congressionally mandated Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Public Housing Operating Cost Study.

City University of New York – New York City College of Technology: Gilen Chan, an attorney with expertise in ethics, compliance and employment and labor law, has been appointed to the new position of special counsel at New York City College of Technology/CUNY (City Tech). She reports directly to President Russell K. Hotzler and is the College’s liaison to The City University Office of the General Counsel.

In her new position, Ms. Chan serves as City Tech’s legal designee, providing the College with guidance on a wide range of legal and administrative matters. She also functions as the College’s affirmative action officer, records management officer, and ethics officer.

Ms. Chan, a longtime Brooklyn resident, most recently was senior vice president/director of ethics, Global Compliance Department, for Citigroup Inc. A graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, Ms. Chan received an associate degree in mechanical technology from the College of Staten Island/CUNY and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pratt Institute School of Engineering. She received her law degree from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.