James R. Beniger, former president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Deerfield, Ill., died on April 14, 2010, at age 63.

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, founder of Allensbach Institute, an Allensbach, Germany, research firm, died on March 25, 2010, at age 93.

ROI Labs, a New York research company, has named Michael Hayward CEO.

Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive has appointed Peter Shreeve as senior consultant, U.K. financial services research.

Milwaukee research company Market Probe has named Viraag Agnihotri managing director, operations, India and Middle East/Africa. 

Eric R. Kandel has joined the advisory board of Berkeley, Calif., research company NeuroFocus.

Amy Henry has been named vice president, youth insights, of C&R Research, Chicago. Henry will lead the firm’s YouthBeath division. 

Mark Stapylton has been appointed managing partner of PluggedIN, a Rochester, N.Y., research company.

Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress has promoted Dan Campbell to vice president and Lauren Benedict to senior director of its digital media measurement division. The division has also added Karen Joyce as senior account executive.

Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical has named Steven Davis director, product innovation. The company has also made two promotions within its retail practice: Janet Lazaris to executive vice president and Dara St. Louis to senior vice president. Separately, Vision Critical’s Angus Reid Public Opinion division appointed its U.K. general election team: Angus Reid; Laura Davies, senior vice president, panel strategy; Andy Morris, director, research, U.K. practice; Hamish Marshall, director, research; and Mario Canseco, vice president.

New York research company Ipsos Marketing has hired Donna Wydra as senior vice president, shopper insight.

Michelle Poris has joined Johnson City, Tenn., research company Smarty Pants as a senior research director. Poris will be based in Stamford, Conn.

Scott Miller has been named CEO, North America, of Chicago research company Synovate. Additionally, Richard Abraham has been appointed head of the public sector, charities and transport industry sector team at Synovate’s U.K. operation.

Cincinnati research company Burke, Inc. has promoted Andrew Bernard and Rachel Peck to vice president and Michael Pietrangelo to senior vice president.

Atlanta research company CMI has hired JD Woods to its client services team; Alisa Hamilton as senior project manager; and Matt Orenstein and Nicole Stover as associate project manager.

Alan Chumley has joined Washington, D.C., research company CARMA International as senior measurement consultant.

Yahoo! Maktoob Research, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has hired Ragheed A. Masri as head of operations in the Amman, Jordan, office.

Cincinnati research firm LoyaltyOne Consulting has promoted Dennis Armbruster to vice president and hired Sol Zia as senior director, consulting; Richard Schenker as senior director, consulting; Ken Kuschei as consultant; and Allan Toy as business intelligence analyst. 

Shelton, Conn., research company Survey Sampling International has named Rene Bos managing director, Asia-Pacific.

Dan Gersten has been hired as account director, financial services, at Boston research company Chadwick Martin Bailey.
 
Fresno, Calif., research company Decipher has hired Bonnie Sherman as vice president, custom panel development. Sherman will be based in Sacramento, Calif. John Saez has been named director, sample management, and will be based in Norwalk, Conn.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, Washington, D.C., has hired Thomas P. Kimbis as director, policy and research, and general counsel.

InterMedia, a Washington, D.C., research company, has named Gerry Power as managing director of its U.K.-based subsidiary.

London research company GfK NOP has named Andreas Guhl director, market access center.

David Lemelin has joined ABI Research, Oyster Bay, N.Y., as director, research, enterprise communications. Victoria Fodale has also joined ABI as senior analyst, mobile devices.

London research company GfK Roper Consulting has named Joe Staton director, global consumer trends.