People on the Move is a rundown of recent hirings, promotions, appointments and other notable movements by professionals in the state. If you’re interested in submitting an entry, please contact news@delawarebusinesstimes.com.
Dr. Tony Allen, President of Delaware State University, will head President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration committee, according to a Monday announcement.
Allen’s role in overseeing the Presidential Inaugural Committee, a nonprofit organization and separate entity from the Biden-Harris transition team charged with planning and executing activities surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony, is one of the highest profile appointments of a Delawarean in the Biden presidency’s activities to date. Allen’s selection does not come as a complete surprise though.
He helped in the planning of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was officially held in Milwaukee but was largely completed in Wilmington. Allen is also a longtime confidant and former speechwriter for the former vice president and U.S. senator from Delaware.
“I’ve known and loved the Biden family for 25 years and am deeply humbled to help organize the historic inauguration of a good and decent patriot during an unprecedented time in our country. As the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden alongside Kamala Harris, the first woman of color to be elected Vice President of the United States, will work hard for all Americans and lead us towards our nation’s highest calling — ‘a more perfect union,’” Allen said in a statement announcing his appointment. “This year’s inauguration will look different amid the pandemic, but we will honor the American inaugural traditions and engage Americans across the country while keeping everybody healthy and safe.”
Dr. Matthew J. Burday, an internal medicine hospitalist with ChristianaCare has been elected the 177th president of the Medical Society of Delaware (MSD) for 2021. Burday, a graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s School of Osteopathic Medicine is also the director of medical student education at ChristianaCare in Newark.
A strong believer in the value of education, Burday is a clinical associate professor of medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and has been awarded the Delaware Clinical Branch Campus Teacher of the Year recognition multiple times. He has also been distinguished as a Delaware Today magazine and Philadelphia Magazine “Top Doctor.”
Burday has been extensively involved with the Medical Society of Delaware for more than three decades. Among his many positions within the society, he is the chair of the Education Committee, chair of the Delaware Medical Education Foundation Board of Directors, a member of the Education Program Planning Subcommittee, Primary Care Subcommittee, and Government Affairs Committee.
This year Burday plans to focus his presidency on supporting primary care in Delaware and encouraging patients to utilize their primary care physicians, especially during the pandemic.
Anne Shea Gaza has been elected as a member of the Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor’s Management Committee. Gaza is the first female Asian American to serve on the leadership team of a large Delaware law firm.
Gaza will assume her new role on Jan. 1, and join the firm’s current Management Committee members: Chairman Robert S. Brady, Vice Chair Michael R. Nestor, and partners C. Barr Flinn, Rolin P. Bissell, Edwin J. Harron and James P. Hughes Jr. She succeeds partner Pauline K. Morgan, who served on the Management Committee for 10 years.
Jesse Chadderdon has been hired as the next chief of staff for the Delaware Senate Majority Caucus.
As a former communications director for the Senate Majority Caucus and the current executive director of the Delaware Democratic Party, Chadderdon brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the newly expanded caucus.
“Jesse has the experience and knowledge needed to step in quickly and guide our operations through these challenging times,” President Pro Tempore-Elect David Sokola said in a statement. “He has proven himself to be a capable leader time and time again, and I am thrilled he will be re-joining us for the start of 151st General Assembly and this new direction for the Delaware State Senate.”
Chadderdon’s hire marks the first staffing change in the Delaware Senate Majority Caucus since early 2019.
A graduate of Temple University, Chadderdon began his career as a journalist before assuming the role of executive editor for the GateHouse Media family of newspapers. Following service as press secretary for U.S. Sen. Chris Coons’ successful 2014 re-election campaign, he spent nearly three years as the Delaware Senate Majority Caucus’ director of communications.
Linzy Bouton and Chloe Kennedy have been hired as new accountants at Whisman Giordano & Associates LLC.
Bouton is a graduate of Wilmington University with a degree in accounting. She is focused on both the audit and tax practices of the firm. She shared that she is “grateful” for the opportunity to join Whisman Giordano and is ready to contribute to the overall success of the firm.
Kennedy is a graduate of Lock Haven University with a degree in accounting. She was a member of multiple business and accounting clubs in college. Chloe states, “I’m really looking forward to being involved with clients and learning from the whole team.”
President and Managing Partner Joseph V. Giordano said, “It’s always exciting to welcome accountants who are early in their career. We invest in our people, so they’ll grow and stay with us for the long-term. We always hire with our motto, ‘Building Extraordinary Relationships,’ in mind. We look for people who are, first and foremost, good and decent humans, which is what drew us to both Chloe and Linzy. They have a hunger to learn and a great attitude. I’m confident that they’ll be true assets to our clients and to the team.”
