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James Huckabee IV of Chapel Hill attended the Northwestern Mutual Forum held Nov. 5-8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The forum is an education and development symposium that focuses on industry issues and ways to enhance productivity for top producing financial representatives. Huckabee is a managing partner of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network district office in Chapel Hill. Huckabee was invited to the forum in recognition of his outstanding year of performance. Of the company's nearly 7,700 representatives, only 270 were eligible to attend the annual event.

Kenneth B. Touw of Chapel Hill has been promoted to senior vice president of regulatory affairs with King Pharmaceuticals Inc. In this position, Touw will provide regulatory support to King's Research and Development group based in Cary, assist in the assessment of new investigational drug development opportunities, and develop and execute regulatory submission strategies. Prior to joining King in 2000, Touw was assistant professor of pharmacology in the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also held positions in clinical science and regulatory affairs at Burroughs Wellcome Co. and Quintiles, Inc.

Cherri D. Hobgood, associate dean for curriculum and educational development and associate professor of emergency medicine in the UNC School of Medicine, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Hobgood, who has been a member of the board since 2004, will serve a one-year term as chair. She is the first woman to be elected to this position.

Christine O'Meara of Chapel Hill has received the 2006 Individual Child Health Recognition Award from GlaxoSmithKline Foundation for her work promoting infant sleep safety for North Carolina's children. She is coordinator of the N.C. Back to Sleep Campaign and is with the N.C. Healthy Start Foundation in Raleigh. She received the award in October during a ceremony in New Bern. O'Meara has educated more than 30,000 licensed childcare providers around the state, as well as hundreds of thousands of parents, health and human service providers, community members and others about reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).