Aerospace Woodland Hills-based UNOVA Inc. announced that Alton J. Brann would retire as chairman and a member of the board of directors effective July 31. The board elected Larry D. Brady, UNOVA’s current chief executive officer, to also become its chairman effective the following day. Brann served as chairman and CEO of UNOVA from October 1997 until September 2000, when Brady was named CEO. Prior to UNOVA, Brann was chairman and CEO of Western Atlas and president and CEO of Litton Industries Inc. Brady joined UNOVA in August 1999 as president and chief operating officer. He was elected a director of UNOVA one month later and was subsequently named CEO in September 2000. Prior to joining UNOVA, Brady was president of FMC Corp. He serves as a director of Pactiv Corp. and is a member of the executive committee of the National Association of Manufacturers. Entertainment Eric Hollreiser has been named senior vice president, media relations for ABC Cable Networks Group. Hollreiser will direct all public relations activities for the group, which includes the Disney Channel, Toon Disney, SoapNet and the recently announced Playhouse Disney. He will manage the department responsible for network relations, strategic publicity and long-term planning on behalf of the group’s sales, marketing, programming and affiliate relations divisions. Most recently, Hollreiser served as vice president of Tierney Communications. Eliot Sekuler has been appointed vice president, public relations and television development/production for Universal Studios Hollywood. In his new role, he will be responsible for developing public relations strategies as well as managing efforts to expand use of Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal CityWalk as locations for film and video production. Coinciding with Sekuler’s appointment, Audrey Eig has been promoted to director, domestic publicity. In her newly expanded role, Eig will be responsible for managing all domestic print and electronic media for Universal Studios Hollywood. Eig joined the company in 1998 as publicity manager responsible for securing print and broadcast media in California. Health Care John Raudsep was named vice president of marketing for IPC The Hospitalist Company, an acute-care specialists organization. In his new role, Raudsep will provide oversight and direction to the marketing of the company. Immediately before joining IPC, Raudsep was vice president of business development and sales for DestinationRx.com, an online comparison-shopping site for pharmaceuticals and health products. Raudsep has also been health systems management director and later business director/outcomes director for Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Jersey. Banking and Finance R.J. Arnett was promoted to senior vice president of production for the Western Division of Countrywide Home Loans. A 16-year veteran of the mortgage banking industry, including six years with Countrywide, Arnett succeeds Brian Robinett, who was named executive vice president of production earlier this year. Arnett will have responsibility for production and operations in the Countrywide Wholesale Lending Division’s four Western regions encompassing 25 branch offices. He joined Countrywide in 1995 as a branch manager in Westlake Village and was promoted to regional vice president for Southern California in 1998. Succeeding Arnett as regional vice president overseeing Countrywide’s six wholesale branches in Southern California is Jeff Garrison. He has been with the company for nine years, most recently as branch manager in Pasadena and previously as account executive and branch manager in Santa Barbara. Pharmaceuticals Mitchell H. Saranow has joined the board of directors of North American Scientific Inc. As founder of The Saranow Group, he acquired and served as CEO of companies with operations in the United States, Europe and Australia. Prior to that, he served as the CFO of CFS Continental Inc., then the second largest food services company in the United States. Saranow is a director of Lawson Products Inc. and a director and recently elected president of the Juvenile Protective Association. Public Relations Encino-based public relations specialist Rhonda Rees was awarded first place in the writing category as the Public Communicators of Los Angeles (PCLA) awarded their 2001 PRo Awards at a ceremony held at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills. The award was for her op-ed piece, “Sex and the Synagogue,” about a sexually explicit forum held at Stephen S. Wise Temple. Software Charles Ramey has joined Sonicport Inc.’s board of directors. Ramey most recently was president and a founding partner of PaymentNet Inc., now Signio Inc., which was acquired last year by VeriSign Inc. Prior to his tenure at PaymentNet, he served as chairman, president and CEO of Multidata Corporation.