Lobbying World

• Forbes-Tate has brought on Jeremy Tunis as the director of grassroots advocacy and Kristen Thomaselli as strategic communications director. Tunis founded his own strategic consulting firm and before that worked as a vice president of public affairs at Edelman and director of public affairs at Burson-Marsteller. Thomaselli most recently worked as the director of earned media at Keybridge Communications.  

• Nick Magallanes left the office of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, for a post at Biotechnology Industry Organization. He served as the congresswoman’s health policy adviser for two years. Magallanes also has experience working with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and former Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.). 

{mosads}• Ace Metrix, a company that specializes in creating television advertising analytics, has brought on Mark Bryant as a vice president and general manager of politics and advocacy. He will work out of the firm’s new Washington office and focus on analyzing the efficacy of political and issue advocacy ads during the 2016 presidential campaign season. Prior to joining the company, Bryant worked at Resonate, another media analytics firm. 

• Luke Albee and John Murray have joined public affairs firm Direct Impact, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, as senior advisers. Albee formerly served as the chief of staff to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and before that worked for consulting firm Ricchetti. As
the top aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Murray founded public affairs firm JAM Strategies and previously managed fundraising and strategy for YG Network while working as an outside adviser to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).  

• The International Society for Stem Cell Research named Kevin Wilson as its director of policy, a new position at the organization. He has served as the director of public policy at the American Society for Cell Biology for the last 14 years.

• The Association of American Universities has named Mary Sue Coleman as its new president, effective next June. She succeeds Hunter R. Rawlings III. She previously served as the president of University of Michigan and The University of Iowa.