Who's News.

Melissa Bazar, a managing director with Insignia/ESG's midtown office, has been tapped to oversee alumni affairs for the New York University Master of Science in Real Estate Alumni Association, announced alumni board president Scott Robinson.

Bazar will be responsible for communications within NYU's alumni network and will focus on increasing the association's profile within the real estate community. Bazar is a graduate of NYU's Masters in Real Estate program and has been with Insignia/ESG since 1993.

Edward A. "Lou" King, Jr. has joined investment banking firm Whiteweld, Barrister & Brown, Inc. as senior vice president. King assumes responsibility for the firm's mezzanine funding, joint ventures, equity participations and credit enhancement activities.

King is a 30-year veteran of the real estate financial services sector. He joins the company after six years in the New York City office of Buffalo-based M&T Bank where he was responsible for a sizable commercial real estate loan portfolio. King has lectured at New York University and has been a guest speaker at meetings of the New York Real Estate Board, the New York State Assessors' Association and the Long Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, King attended Brown University's Graduate School of Banking and holds a certificate from the Mortgage Bankers Association. He is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association of New York, the Young Mortgage Bankers Association, the Real Estate Lenders Association, the National Realty Club, Inc. and REBNY. He resides in West Islip.

Insignia/ESG promoted Michael H. Siegel to executive managing director.

Siegel joined the company in 1993 as executive director, with more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate. He has been the backbone of Insignia/ESG's Westchester-Connecticut office since its inception, and has consistently ranked among the highest producers throughout the New York metro region. In addition, Siegel has earned Insignia/ESG's distinguished "Broker of the Year" award for the northern suburbs of New York three times.

Over the past few years Siegel's accomplishments have included Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's 203,110 SF headquarters relocation to White Plains, Cendant Mobility Services' 225,000 SF headquarters expansion in Danbury, Conn., and Wamaco Inc.'s 95,000 SF headquarters lease in Milford, Conn. Siegel is currently the exclusive leasing agent for Hines/Sterling Equities, Oaktree Capital Management, and Prodigy Corporation's properties in Danbury, Milford, and White Plains.

Among organizations Siegel is a member is the Urban Land Institute, Building Owners and Managers Association International, the Real Estate Board of New York and the Real Estate Finance Association of Westchester and Connecticut. Siegel is a resident of Southport, Conn.

Wilder Baiter Partners, Inc. hired Joel H. Suskin as its new chief operating officer. Suskin has more than 20 years of financial experience in financial operations, asset management, and acquisitions.

In his new position with Wilder Baiter Partners, he is responsible for overseeing the daily financial operations of the company. Prior to joining the firm, Suskin was chief financial officer and vice president with private venture capital firms, controlling assets valued at more than S1 billion. His experience also includes seven years with Saul P. Steinberg's Reliance Group Holdings.

A certified public accountant Suskin, of Armonk, also holds an M.B.A. from New York University and a B.B.A. from the University of Hartford.

William Sander joined Reis, Inc. as chief operating officer. In this newly created position, he will report directly to the company's founder and president Lloyd Lynford.

As chief operating officer, Sander will direct product management, sales, marketing, human resources, operations and the economic analysis group. Among his key responsibilities will be the growth of the company's building level database, rollout of a subscriber edition of the core product and expansion of the analytical division. He will also be responsible for enhancing the company's on-line products and services.

Sander was formerly a senior vice president of product management for Thomson Financials' investment banking/capital markets group where he was responsible for the development and launch of two of the company's primary products, Global Access and Piranha Web. In 1997, Global Access won the Information Industry Association's "Hot Shots" award for best-enhanced product.

Sander is a graduate of Marietta College, and the Washington Economic Policy Semester at American University. He and his family reside in Norwalk, Conn.

Barry F. Hersh has been named associate director of the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute at Baruch College. Hersh comes to the institute with 20 years of real estate and planning experience, including service as vice president of the Brookhill Group and development director of the city of Poughkeepsie. He has also taught and lectured extensively, most recently as faculty associate of the Lincoln Land Institute in Cambridge, Mass.

Jones Lang LaSalle announced that Dianne O'Connell has joined the firm as director of global client services. She will be responsible for defining and developing client requirements and strategies, coordinating multi-disciplinary responses and managing client relationships.

Previously she was managing director of corporate services at the Grubb & Ellis Company, where she spent the last three years establishing the firm's northeast corporate service group.

She started her real estate career with CB Richard Ellis working for 11 years in various disciplines, including retail, land and corporate assignments. During her 14 years of real estate experience, O'Connell has led projects and orchestrated transactions for the majority of IBM's east coast portfolio, including the disposition of IBM's two million SF Charlotte, N.C. campus and two 150,000 SF build-to-suits.

O'Connell received a B.S. degree from Boston College and has taken courses towards the certified commercial investment member designation. She is a member of the International Development Research Council and the Southwestern Area Commerce and Industry Association.

The Praedium Group announced that Jeffrey Sirkin has joined the company as a vice president. Sirkin bnngs more than a decade of real estate capital markets experience to Praedium, where he will focus primarily on asset dispositions.

Formerly, Sirkin was a senior vice president of the fund capital group at GE Capital Real Estate. Prior to that, he served as a vice president of the real estate finance group at BHF (USA) and as a vice president of the real estate investment bank at Chase Manhattan Bank.

Sirkin holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from Dartmouth College and a MBA in finance from New York University's Stem School of Business.

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. announced that Michael Lyons was promoted from development manager to development director.

Lyons joined AvalonBay as development manager in September 1998. He has been instrumental in the development of the company's mid-rise luxury apartment communities, Avalon Bellevue and Avalon Belltown, and the design and permitting of a planned Seattle high-rise, Avalon Madison.

Under Lyons' guidance, Avalon Madison received unanimous design review approval from the Seattle Community Design Review Board at its first official presentation, an accomplishment unprecedented in the Seattle area.

Lyons received his M.A. in urban design from the University of Oregon School of Architecture. He holds a B.S. in political science and economics from Eastern Washington University.

Jonathan B. Schultz, president and chief executive officer of The Schulz Organization/TCN Worldwide, has been appointed regional vice president of TCN Worldwide.

Schultz co-founded The Schultz Organization, with the goal of filling an under-served niche in the commercial real estate services market by creating an organization that could react to opportunities in the marketplace, while delivering to clients a comprehensive and integrated scope of services often found only at national firms.

Schultz's achievements throughout his professional career include investment sales totaling more than $600 million and leasing of more than 3.6 million SF of commercial space throughout New Jersey.

Prudential New Jersey Realty announced that Patricia Wallace has been named chief financial officer. In her new role, Wallace will continue to oversee the financial operations of Prudential New Jersey Properties, but will now take on increased involvement in the growth of the company through mergers and acquisitions.

Wallace joined Prudential New Jersey Realty as comptroller in 1992. She was soon promoted to vice president, finance where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the accounting department including commission processing, trust functions, payroll, general ledger, vendor payables, and compliance issues.

Wallace also served as the administrative manager for Prudential New Jersey Properties' corporate office. Additionally, as human resources manager for the company's sales offices, she designed the company's policies and procedures, oversaw the administration of its health, pension and benefits plans and supervised the staffing of it's 27 statewide locations.

Wallace received an associate's degree in applied science, accounting from Middlesex County College and a bachelor of science in management science and finance from Kean College, where she graduated summa cum laude. A resident of Old Bridge, N.J., she has two married children, Corinne and Kenneth.