St. Thomas University President Monsignor Franklyn M. Casale has announced the appointment of former United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs J. Antonio Villamil as the new dean of the School of Business, effective August 1, 2008. [MORE]

Eshenbaugh Land Company is pleased to announce Nancy Blanchard Surak has been named as a winner of the Florida Real Estate Journal Top Women in Florida Commercial Real Estate for 2008. She will be honored at a reception September 13, 2008 in Orlando, Fla. [MORE]

Lane A. Carson, an alumnus of LSU’s Public Administration Institute in the E. J. Ourso College of Business, has been appointed to the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs to serve as secretary. [MORE]

Jeff Zehnder, founder and chief executive officer of Zehnder Communications, has been named a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business. [MORE]

LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business has announced that Edward A. Landry, Peggy Scott and James D. Shelton will be inducted into its Hall of Distinction. This select group will be honored during a ceremony to be held April 4, 2008 at 6 p.m. at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on LSU’s campus. [MORE]