BRIDGEWATER, NJ: Charles Rouse will serve as VP, communications, North America, for the newly merged Sanofi-Aventis. Rouse, who worked in a similar position at Aventis, will report to Nicole Cranois, who is leading PR from the drug company's Paris headquarters.
SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES: Alice Hansen and Daniel Whelan have joined Burson-Marsteller in San Francisco and LA, respectively. Hansen joins as MD, where she will lead the San Francisco office's corporate/financial practice. Hansen has worked for Firefly Ventures, Salesforce.com, and Blanc & Otus. Whelan joins the LA office as director and will focus on corporate/financial. He was a VP with Fleishman-Hillard.
NEW YORK: The Arthur W. Page Society has expanded its Pathways to Diversity scholarship program, adding a corporate matching pledge of up to $40,000 and an internship initiative designed to attract more students to the PR industry. Launched last year, the program funds scholarships for minority students who choose PR and corporate communications as a career.
BOSTON: Tom Smith has joined Brodeur Worldwide as a VP, providing research services and focusing on business development. Smith joins from ad agency Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos, where he was VP of information services. Also joining Brodeur is Heidi Yeranossian, who will serve as an SVP and lead the consumer healthcare practice. She previously ran her own virtual agency, Madison On Main Communications.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL: Fish Consulting, a new full-service communications consulting firm focused on creating PR and marketing strategies, is being led by CEO/ managing partner Lorne Fisher. Previously, Fisher led the communications efforts for The Absolut Spirits Co. in New York.
CORRECTION: In "NCBA keeps cool despite latest mad cow concerns" (PRWeek, October 18), it was erroneously stated that the National Cattlemen's Beef Association directs the Beef Checkoff program. The Beef Checkoff program is directed by the Cattlemen's Beef Board, an organization created by the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 and based in Denver. Much of the NCBA's crisis management funding comes from the Beef Checkoff program.
