Richard Riazzi is president and CEO of Duquesne Light Co. and its affiliates. He returns to Pittsburgh from Wenatchee, Wash., where he has been the CEO and general manager of the Chelan County public utility district since 2006. Previously, he led the energy-generation, marketing and trading operations for Idaho Power, an investor-owned electric utility based in Boise. Riazzi grow up in McKeesport and earned a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Pittsburgh. In a message to Chelan public utility district employees, Riazzi said, “The chance to be close to my family was just too hard to pass by.” He and his wife, Carol, have two children and several grandchildren in greater Pittsburgh.
Dr. Akhtar Khan is a surgeon specializing in kidney, pancreas and liver transplantation at Allegheny General Hospital. He comes to Pittsburgh from Hershey, where he was director of the Hershey Medical Center’s Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program and assistant professor of surgery at the Penn State College of Medicine. Previously, he was attending transplant surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh’s Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Dr. Khan graduated from the Khyber Medical College at the University of Peshawar in Pakistan. His post-graduate training included a surgical residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and fellowships in both multi-organ transplantation and surgical critical care at the University of Pittsburgh. He is living in the Strip District.
Steven E. Sokol is president and chief executive officer of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. He comes to Pittsburgh from New York, where he served for nearly eight years as vice president and director for programs at the American Council on Germany. Previously, he was deputy director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin, Germany. A native of Boston, he has nearly 20 years of experience working with foundations and nonprofits in the U.S. and Europe to promote deeper international and cross-cultural understanding. Sokol has an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He has studied in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in law and policy from Northeastern University. Sokol lives in Downtown.
Dr. Robert Friedlander leads the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Most recently, he was professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and vice-chairman of neurosurgery and associate director of cerebrovascular surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. Friedlander received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in biochemistry from Brandeis University and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, followed by a residency in neurological surgery, also at Harvard. He will divide his time between treating complex cerebrovascular disorders and brain tumors and investigating cell death in neurological diseases, brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. Dr. Friedlander, his wife, Eugenia, and their three children live in Shadyside.
Jim Sega is general manager of the Hilton Pittsburgh. Most recently, he was general manager of the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk in Tampa, Fla. Sega has a bachelor of science degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Houston. A native of Ithaca, N.Y., he has been general manager with Marriott, Sheraton and Hilton brands, as well as independent resorts such as South Seas Resort in Captiva Island, Fla., and several other resorts in Florida and the Caribbean. A 30-year hospitality veteran, Sega will oversee operations at the recently renovated 712-room Hilton in Downtown Pittsburgh, where he will also live.
Samuel Liang is president and CEO of Medrad, Inc., succeeding John Friel, who is retiring. Liang comes to Pittsburgh from Totowa, N.J., where he was president and CEO of Vascular Therapies, a start-up company developing a combination drug-device product for surgery. Previously, he spent 24 years in a variety of management positions at Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company. Liang, who grew up in Fairfax, Va., has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and material sciences from Duke University and a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Liang expects to commute to Pittsburgh from New Jersey until next year, when he, his wife, Dr. Kelly Liang, and their three daughters will move to Pittsburgh.
Raymond Washburn is president and CEO of Vincentian Collaborative System. Washburn comes to Pittsburgh from Connecticut, where he was senior vice president of corporate services for Masonicare, based in Wallingford, which provides healthcare and retirement living communities. He was also vice president for 11 years of Gaylord Hospital, a long-term acute care hospital, also in Wallingford. Washburn also spent 20 years in various management positions in the banking industry. At Vincentian, he will oversee all operations of the North- Hills-based, Catholic healthcare and human services organization. A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Washburn is a graduate of the University of Connecticut. He and his wife, Norma, are looking for a home in greater Pittsburgh. They have two grown children.
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