Napa Valley’s Cliff Lede names Tynan winemaking director; Medtronic picks CMO; Humane Society of Sonoma County new leader

Christopher Tynan, winemaker at Cliff Lede Vineyards since 2012, will now take the role of director of winemaking, the Napa Valley-based winery stated.

Associate winemaker Travis Bullard, who first joined the production team in 2010, has been promoted to winemaker, and Anna Compton, who joined the company in 2017 and was previously enologist, has been promoted to assistant winemaker.

Lede Family Wines was established in 2002 when Canadian-born Cliff Lede acquired 60 acres in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, creating Cliff Lede Vineyards. In 2005, Lede opened the adjacent Poetry Inn, the only accommodation in the Stags Leap District. After acquiring the famed Savoy Vineyard in Anderson Valley in 2011 and creating FEL Wines, the company evolved to become Lede Family Wines, integrating Lede’s luxury wine and hospitality businesses.

John R. Laird Jr., M.D., will join Medtronic as vice president and chief medical officer supporting the Peripheral Vascular Health operating unit at Medtronic, which has a facility in Santa Rosa.

He is currently an interventional cardiologist at Adventist Heart and Vascular Institute in St. Helena. In addition to his work with Medtronic, the company stated that Laird will continue to practice at Adventist Health.

Laird has served as the National Principal Investigator for 14 multicenter trials of new device therapies. He has published more than 200 articles and abstracts in peer-reviewed medical journals, as well as more than 15 book chapters, Medtronics stated. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, American College of Cardiology, and Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention, Dr. Laird is one of the founding board members of Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) Physicians.

Laird earned his medical degree at Albany Medical College of Union University, Albany, N.Y. He completed an internal medicine residency at Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash., and then completed fellowships in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

Lindsay McCall will take over Sept. 1 as executive director of the Humane Society of Sonoma County, succeeding Wendy Welling, the group announced.

McCall has been serving as the society’s director of animal care since 2016 and was appointed director of operations earlier this year.

Her career in animal welfare began in private Bay Area emergency veterinary practices. She went on to work in a large private animal shelter in Southern California. The group stated McCall’s background in shelter management includes oversight and practice in neonatal kitten care, foster program management, trap/neuter/release for community cats and pursuit of animal abuse and neglect cases alongside veterinarians and animal control.

“The board of directors is very pleased to welcome Lindsay to her new role. Lindsay has a strong background in animal welfare, is forward thinking and will take on the new role with enthusiasm and knowledge,” said Kati Aho, society board president.