Moving up in Southern Arizona

Rusing Lopez & Lizardi

names new partner

Patricia Victory Waterkotte is the newest partner at Rusing Lopez & Lizardi, PLLC.

She joined the firm in 2013, practicing in complex commercial litigation, education and financial services in Arizona and California.

She has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers both in Southern California and the Southwest region for business litigation; as a “future star” in Benchmark Litigation’s annual guide; and as one of Tucson’s 40 Under 40 leaders.

A graduate of University High School, Waterkotte was among the first volunteer teen attorneys with Pima County Teen Court in 1995. She served as a congressional intern for Sen. John McCain, and earned her degree in management information systems, magna cum laude, from the University of Arizona. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2005.

Waterkotte is a member of Angel Charity for Children, Inc., and the Morris K. Udall Inn of Court and serves on the Southern District Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of Arizona.

Smith joins UA’s

Tech Launch Arizona

Eric Smith has joined the University of Arizona and Tech Launch Arizona as commercialization network manager.

He manages Tech Launch Arizona’s 1,400-member expert network, and develops strategies to commercialize UA-invented technologies.

Smith holds a bachelor of science in business administration degree in management and entrepreneurship from the UA Eller College of Management. He previously was business development manager for Aztera.

He is board president of the Tucson Manufacturing Group and a member of the Idea Funding Committee, Eller College Associates, the Tucson Metro Chamber’s Emerging Leaders Council, and an Arizona advisory member for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

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Perez named Starr Pass

executive chef/director

JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa has named Daniel Perez to the dual role of executive chef/food and beverage director.

Perez joined the resort in 2004 as chef de cuisine for the Signature Grill restaurant, and moved up over the years to banquet chef, executive sous chef and executive chef. In June 2015, Perez was named Iron Chef Tucson.

He graduated from the Scottsdale Culinary Art School in 2001 with an associate degree in culinary arts and was previously a sous chef and executive chef at Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus in Tucson.

Truly Nolen promotes Nielsen to manager

Truly Nolen Pest Control has promoted Kaylieha Nielsen to manager of its Customer Care Center in Tucson. She will be responsible for training new employees and promoting overall call-center efficiency.

Nielsen joined the company in June 2013 and was most recently floor operations supervisor.

Johnson, Russo join

Foothills’ Long Realty

Darla Johnson and Tom Russo have joined Long Realty’s Foothills office.

They have nearly 50 years of combined real estate experience, and extensive experience in construction development, design and remodeling, Long said in a news release.

Johnson was the 2015 recipient of the Tucson Association of Realtors Outstanding Service Award. She has also served on the TAR Board of Directors for four years.