MARY BROWN has recently joined Firley, Moran, Freer & Essa, CPA. P.C. as a tax manager. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. John Fisher College and has spent the last 20 years in public accounting, providing tax-accounting services such as tax planning and compliance work. Brown’s clients include closely-held businesses, individuals, trusts, and foundations.

LILY YAN HUGHES has joined the Syracuse University College of Law as assistant dean for career development. In this role, Hughes will lead the implementation of the college’s job placement and career-development strategy for law students, including expanding its national network of prospective placements and overseeing its externship program. An experienced corporate executive, Hughes most recently was senior VP, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary for Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW), a Fortune 500 company with nearly $30 billion in annual revenue. At Arrow, she was a member of the executive committee and led the company’s global legal, trade risk, and compliance teams. From 2015-2019, Hughes was senior VP, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary of Public Storage (NYSE: PSA), a global self-storage company and member of the S&P 500 index. From 1997-2015, she served in roles of increasing responsibility, including her last role as VP and associate general counsel, corporate, M&A, and finance of Ingram Micro Inc., the world’s largest wholesale information technology and mobile-devices distributor. Hughes received her law degree from the University of California (UC) Berkeley School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Berkeley.

SHANNON O’BRIEN has joined the Endwell office of Delta Engineers, Architects, Land Surveyors, & Landscape Architects, DPC as an assistant engineer in the Delta Mechanical Group. She recently received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in Sustainability from Binghamton University. O’Brien previously worked as an intern with Delta.

GABE OSTERHOUT has joined Delta’s Endwell office as a business development coordinator in the Delta Business Development Group. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism/mass communications from St. Bonaventure University. Osterhout brings a great deal of experience from his background as a reporter and public-relations specialist. The company says his strong communication skills will help enhance the firm’s video capabilities.

ANDREW S. CARTWRIGHT has been promoted by Valicenti Advisory Services, Inc. to security analyst and trader. His responsibilities include security analysis, placing and allocating all trades for the firm, assisting the portfolio managers with portfolio-management tasks and special projects. Valicenti Advisory Services, with offices in Elmira and Corning, is a registered investment advisory firm as well as a provider of tax and business services. Cartwright is also part of the firm’s investment committee that meets to review and to analyze market conditions, economic factors, and sector trends. He joined Valicenti seasonally in December 2009 and started full time in the operations department in April 2012, as systems and reports manager. Cartwright is a graduate of SUNY Brockport with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health science. Prior to joining Valicenti, he taught in the Elmira City School District. He has coached cross country and track in the Corning–Painted Post Area School District since 2009. Cartwright is a Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional designee.

THOMAS CASELLA has joined the Buffalo–based law firm of Hurwitz & Fine, P.C. as a member attorney in its insurance coverage group in Central New York. He works from the Mohawk Valley area and brings 15 years of legal experience to the team — 10 of those years in the insurance industry — holding a number of roles including staff attorney, complex claims supervisor, and senior risk manager. Casella joined Hurwitz & Fine from Utica National Insurance Group, where he worked for nearly the last 10 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. His titles at the firm included senior E&O risk-management representative, complex-claims specialist supervisor, and staff attorney. Casella is also experienced with alternative-dispute resolution, having mediated many complex, high-value claims nationwide with excellent results, his new firm says. Prior to his time in the insurance industry, he was a general practitioner focusing on matrimonial law, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, real-estate transactions, and contract disputes. Casella is a former U.S. Marine, where he served with distinction as legal-services specialist. He earned his MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2015, juris doctor degree from Western New England University School of Law in 2006, and bachelor’s degree in anthropology and history from Metropolitan State University of Denver, per Casella’s LinkedIn profile.

JANET KLEIMAN has been promoted to chief operations officer at Sedgwick Business Interiors, from her prior role as director of operations. She has been with the company for 17 years and has contributed greatly in her role in operations by developing and implementing new strategies and processes for the company. At Sedgwick, Kleiman has also held positions in order entry, sales support, project coordination, customer service, before her most-recent position. In her new role, as chief operations officer, she will oversee the operations, design, finance, and sales departments.

MICHAEL PAULUS has joined Syracuse University Athletics as senior associate athletics director/executive director of athletic development. The Syracuse–area native brings 10 years of college-sports fundraising experience to his new role with the university’s Orange Club. Paulus comes to Syracuse after serving in the same role at the U.S. Naval Academy since 2018. As a member of the athletic director’s executive staff, he partnered with the Naval Academy Foundation and Athletic & Scholarship Programs division to lead fundraising efforts supporting Navy athletics. In three years at Navy, the development team achieved record levels of annual and major gift support, most notably increasing unrestricted giving by 35 percent and also surpassing $110 million raised for athletics as part of the Academy’s “Called to Serve, Daring to Lead” campaign, according to a Syracuse University news release. The $110 million exceeded the original campaign goal of $70 million set for athletics and resulted in numerous capital renovations and improvements to facilities benefiting Navy Athletics. Paulus was also a sport supervisor for four varsity programs at Navy. Before his time at Navy, Paulus was the assistant athletics director for development at the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation from 2015 to 2018. In that capacity, he was a lead fundraiser for Ole Miss Athletics and the “Forward Together” campaign, a $200 million capital initiative that resulted in a new basketball arena, expansion to the football stadium, and renovations and improvements benefiting all Olympic sports facilities. Paulus began his career in athletics development at Mount St. Mary’s University (2013-15) and Virginia Commonwealth University (2012-13). A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Paulus played quarterback for the Tribe in 2010 and 2011 after playing the same position at the University of North Carolina for three years. Before college, Paulus starred as a quarterback at Christian Brothers Academy. He went on to earn his master’s degree in education in sport leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MBA from Mount St. Mary’s, and a Ph.D. in higher-education administration at Ole Miss.