Dentist receives LDA award

Dr. Stephanie Weaver received the Distinguished Service Award during the 144th House of Delegates of the Louisiana Dental Association.

The Distinguished Service Award is given annually to LDA members who exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct in dentistry and make extraordinary contributions to organized dentistry and their communities.

Weaver has been a member of the American Dental Association, the Southwest District Dental Association, and the Louisiana Dental Association for 26 years.

Weaver has supported the LDA’s mission to promote, advocate for, and protect dentistry since she joined the organization. She served six years on the LDA Board of Directors, two years on the LDA Foundation Board, and made history in 2013 when she became the first-ever woman to serve as LDA president.

She is a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the Calcasieu Parish Dental Society, and is a fellow in the American and International Colleges of Dentists. She also served on the ADA Council on Communications and has been a delegate to the ADA since 2012.

She is a Louisiana State University School of Dentistry graduate and a Delta Sigma Delta member.

Griner named bank manager

CSE Federal Credit Union is happy to announce Renee Griner as its new branch manager in Sulphur.

She brings 10 years of financial industry experience to the credit union – eight of which have been at CSE. Griner was a senior new accounts representative at CSE before she became assistant branch manager of CSE’s Jennings branch and is a certified IRA Specialist.

Forest elected to AIChE Board

Jerry Forest was honored with the 2025 Walton-Miller Award by the Process Safety Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at the Global Congress on Process Safety in Dallas. This prestigious award recognizes significant contributions to process safety and loss prevention in the chemical industry.

Forest was also recently elected to the AIChE Board of Directors for the 2025-2027 term.

He is a Fellow of both AIChE and the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), a CCPS Certified Process Safety Professional, CCPS Emeritus and consultant.

Forest is retired senior director of process safety at Celanese, and former global process safety manager and global EHS manager of engineering at LyondellBasell. He teaches chemical engineering process safety at LSU.

Thomas named assistant VP

Regina Thomas has been promoted to assistant vice president/branch manager for Lakeside Bank’s Nelson Road site.

Thomas has been with Lakeside for over 14 years, serving as branch manager since 2021. She is a graduate of Reeves High School, McNeese State University and Lamar University.

She has received extensive training from the Louisiana Bankers Association and attended numerous banking classes from the American Institute of Banking through McNeese State University.