The TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER has hired LIZ LAMBERT as the new director of sports and wellness. Most recently, Lambert served as administrative director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Previously, she was assistant dean for social science at Harvard University. In addition to academic administration, Lambert spent eight years in coaching and athletic/recreational administration at the U.S. Naval Academy, Simmons College, Boston University and Harvard.

DARRELL PATTON, assistant varsity coach at ST. GREGORY COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL, has won a national award, the Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award. Patton is a former teacher and coach at Tucson Hebrew Academy and former Maccabi boys basketball coach for the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

CARONDELET ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL was named a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence, placing it among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance. St. Mary’s also received 5 Star ratings (the highest possible) for its care of heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, pneumonia, sepsis and respiratory failure. The hospital also won the HealthGrades Critical Care Excellence Award, placing it among the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for critical care.

PEPPER VINER HOMES has been named the 2011 Builder of the Year by Southern Arizona Home Builders Association for the fourth time. Pepper Viner also received the award in 2000, 2007 and 2009.

AUDREY ERMAN, M.D., has joined the University of Arizona department of surgery as assistant professor, division of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, and co-director of the head and neck oncology program. She attended medical school at the University of Michigan, where she received the Furstenberg Award for exceptional achievement in otolaryngol­ogy. She pursued fellowship training at the Massachussetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a Harvard-affiliated hospital. She brings to Arizona the latest microvascular tissue-transfer techniques for reconstruction following surgery for head and neck cancer.

RABBI ROBERT EISEN of Congregation Anshei Israel graduated this month from the Rabbinic Management Institute’s Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Eisen is one of 14 Conservative rabbis from across North America who took part in the inaugural yearlong program, a joint venture of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and the American Jewish University, which included on-site seminars, mentorships and distance learning.

SUSAN CLAASSEN, managing artistic director of the Invisible Theatre, has been named one of “Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women” by the Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, in partnership with the Arizona Historical Society and the Arizona Community Foundation. She will be honored at a luncheon on March 26 in Scottsdale and will be included in a coffee table book, “Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women,” to be published in March. Former REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS also will be honored in a special Legacy Legends category. More information is available at 48women.org.

Shelia Wilensky

SHEILA WILENSKY has been named associate editor of the ARIZONA JEWISH POST. Wilensky, a former teacher and bookstore owner, has been assistant editor of the AJP for the past eight years.

1ST RATE 2ND HAND THRIFT STORE has given $100,000 back to the Jewish community since its inception in November 2007, with a new round of checks being delivered this month. Funds are distributed to participating organizations based on volunteer hours. In 2011, the organizations logged more than 1,000 hours. The top recipients for this year’s distribution are Tucson Jewish Community Center, Hadassah Southern Arizona, Congregation Or Chadash, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Tucson Hebrew Academy and Temple Emanu-El.

TUCSON HEBREW ACADEMY has acquired eight classroom-sized SmartBoards and one large portable SmartBoard as the result of a fundraising effort during the school’s Tikkun Olam Award Celebration on Nov. 6. THA previously had three SmartBoards and the school’s goal, based on a survey of parents, students and faculty, was to place one in every classroom. Used in place of a standard chalk or white board, the electronic boards are hooked up to computers, enabling teachers to display notes and images from the Internet and use interactive games and other applications.

TUCSON ORIGINALS has announced new officers for 2012, including Anthony Rocco DiGrazia, president; Frank Santos, vice president; Suzanne Kaiser, treasurer; and Julie Connors, acting secretary. Other board members include Mindi Bernstein, Pat Connors, Susie Elefante, Jonathan Landeen, Doug Levy, Todd Martin, Jim Murphy, Coralie Satta and Colette Landeen.

LAWRENCE I. SUBRIN, CPA, has decided to “un-retire.” He is located at 3041 N. Swan Road and can be reached at 299-6977 or lsubrincpa@aol.com.