Maj. Gen. Sean Collins concluded his assignment as the first commander of the Air Force Medical Command following the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Lt. Gen. John J. DeGoes, U.S. Air Force surgeon general, and their transfer of authority.
Collins will continue to serve in his positions as Air National Guard assistant to the surgeon general and as director of Space Force Medical Operations in Arlington, Virginia. He is CEO and president of Governors America Corp. in Agawam.
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The Markens Group Inc., headquartered in Springfield, has announced a transition in ownership to Emily Leonczyk. Leonczyk has been leading day-to-day operations for more than three years. She now serves as president and CEO.
The firm was founded in 1988 to serve trade and manufacturing associations in fiber-based sustainable packaging, Ben Markens, who founded the company 37 years ago alongside his friend and business partner, Andy Levkoff, and his wife and partner, Jennie, will continue to serve as an advisor.
To honor Markens, the company has established the Markens Mutuality Award, celebrating “the fiber of connection that strengthens our communities.” The inaugural award was presented to Markens.
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University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Music and Dance chair Matthew Westgate has been named a Distinguished Faculty member for the 2025-26 academic year.
In his Dec. 2 lecture, entitled “The Art of Conducting: Creating Community Through Music,” Westgate will share methods (both musical and non-musical) that bring people together around common goals and, in turn, help connect them as a community.
Each honoree is presented with the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest recognition bestowed upon faculty by the campus.
With Westgate’s selection, there have now been six members of the Department of Music and Dance selected to this distinction, including four in the past five years.
Westgate’s lecture will be held on Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. in the Old Chapel. The lecture will include an opportunity to learn basic conducting techniques, examine meaning expressed through universal body language, and discuss the positive effects that learning to communicate nonverbally can have on everyone. Participants will end the session by making some music together.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Westgate began his musical career as a jazz/classical trombonist and public-school educator in southwest Michigan. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a music education degree from Western Michigan University and earned his master’s degree in instrumental conducting from WMU in 2006. He completed his doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2009
Westgate was previously the director of instrumental activities at Xavier University in Cincinnati. In addition to his role as chair of the department, Westgate serves as director of wind studies and conductor of the UMass Amherst Wind Ensemble.
He is the president of the Eastern Division of the College Band Director’s National Association and serves on the national board.
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