Former Amazon VP Will Lead Jeff Bezos’s Day One Academies Fund (Transitions)

Day One Academies Fund

Mike George, former vice president of Echo, Alexa, and the Appstore at Amazon, will now become president of a key component of the Bezos Day One Fund, a $2 billion effort announced in September by Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder and CEO of Amazon. Bezos said he wanted his philanthropy to focus in part on improving education, which is the mission of the Academies Fund. (His other priority is homelessness.) Before his retirement in July 2017, George worked at Amazon for almost 20 years.

Association of American Medical Colleges

David Skorton, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for four years, will become president and CEO of the medical-colleges group on July 15. He has led the Smithsonian for four years and will conclude his term in June. During his tenure, he led a fundraising drive that attracted $1.9 billion. (See a Chronicle article on how he did it.)

Strada Education Network

Ben Wildavsky, senior fellow and executive director of the College Board Policy Center, has joined the grant maker as senior vice president for national engagement. Wildavsky is a former blogger for our sister publication, the Chronicle of Higher Education.

More New CEOs

Margaret Barclay, major-gifts officer at the Oswego Health Foundation, has been promoted to executive director.

Veronica Cedillos, a licensed civil engineer and director of projects at the Applied Technology Council, has become president of GeoHazards International, a nonprofit group that works with scientists, government officials, universities, builders, and other leaders in communities affected by natural disaster. She replaces Brian Tucker, who has led this group he founded since 1991.

Kristen DeVries, vice president for university advancement at Lawrence Technological University, has joined Western Michigan University as vice president for development and alumni relations and executive director of the WMU Foundation.

Other Notable Appointments

Nicole Cooke, communications and development manager at Valu Home Centers, has become assistant executive director at the Western New York Book Arts Center.

Jennifer Kim, director of major and planned gifts at Virginia Mason, has been named vice president for philanthropy at IslandWood, a charity that leads experiential learning programs in schools near Puget Sound, Wash.

Sang Hoon Lee, chief development officer of LIFT, has joined the Benefits Data Trust as senior director of development.

Christine Simmons, president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Sparks women’s basketball team, has been appointed chief operating officer at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Departures

Eric Heitz, a co-founder of the Energy Foundation, has left after 28 years to start a new conservation-issues firm called Tapeats Partners.

Rick Sperling, founder and artistic director of the Mosaic Youth Theatre, will retire in September. DeLashea Strawder has been promoted from associate artistic director to artistic director and will lead the Detroit charity along with Stefanie Worth, who joined as executive director last May.

Legacy

Louise Herrington Ornelas, a Texas philanthropist who gave millions to improve education and health care, died December 18. She was 93. She and her second husband, Bob Rogers, founded TCA Cable in Tyler, Tex., which they sold to Cox Communications in 1999 for $3.5 billion. That year, she gave $13 million to endow Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing, and in 2015 bought a building to house it at Baylor’s campus in Dallas.

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