Agribusiness

Ferdinand S. Duda, 58, takes over as CEO and president of Oviedo-based A. Duda & Sons, one of the nation's largest family-owned fresh vegetable and citrus growers. He replaces Edward D. Duda, a cousin, who retired as chairman and CEO on Jan. 1 after 40 years. Both Edward, 65, and Ferdinand are grandsons of Andrew Duda, who founded the company in 1926.

Banking

Less than a month after NationsBank completed its merger with Barnett Banks, it tapped R. Eugene Taylor, 50, to replace Allen L. Lastinger Jr. as president of NationsBank Florida. Lastinger, 55, is retiring after 27 years. Taylor, who will be based in Jacksonville, was president of NationsBank Florida from 1990 to 1993, prior to serving as president of NationsBank Mid-Atlantic. Alex Sink, formerly president of NationsBank Florida, will remain in Tampa as president of NationsBank Private Client Group.

Adolfo Henriques, 44, for the past six years chairman of NationsBank South Florida and manager of the bank's Private Client Group, was named president and CEO of Union Planters Bank of Florida, a subsidiary of Memphis-based Union Planters Corp. Last December, Union acquired Capital Bank, Miami, which had 28 branches in south Florida.

SunTrust banks in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa are shuffling top management, in part due to Barnett's demise. Thomas H. Yochum, 53, a 27-year Barnett Banks veteran, jumped to SunTrust Bank Central Florida, where he will be president. At SunTrust Bank South Florida, Thomas G. Kuntz, 41, will take over as president and COO on April 1. He replaces James H. Robinson, who retires this month. Kuntz was president and COO of SunTrust Bank Tampa Bay.

Colonial Bancgroup tapped Jose Valdes-Fauli, 46, as president and CEO of Colonial Bank-South Florida. He replaces Bart Goldberg, who moves up to chairman. Valdes-Fauli, a 23-year south Florida banking veteran, was president and CEO of Eastern National Bank. Colonial operates in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and has 20 offices.

Charles E. Hughes Jr. stepped down after six years as chairman and CEO of Jacksonville-based SouthTrust Bank of Florida, the Florida arm of Birmingham-based SouthTrust Corp. Hughes, 54, and a group of investors, including Pompano Beach banker M.G. Sanchez, created a new Florida bank holding company, Florida Banks Inc., also based in Jacksonville, that is buying or starting up community banks throughout the state.

Education

The Florida Board of Regents tapped Dr. Adam W. Herbert Jr., president of the University of North Florida, as Chancellor of the State University System of Florida. He replaces Charles Reed. Herbert, 54, has been president of UNF since February 1989 and previously held posts at Florida International University in Miami.

Law

T. Terrell Sessums, 67, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and chairman of the Florida Board of Regents, joined the Tampa law firm of Salem, Saxon & Nielsen. He moves from Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen in Tampa.

Retail

Miami's Sunglass Hut International, which operates more than 2,200 retail outlets, tapped John Watson as president and CEO. He replaces Jack Chadsey, who resigned in May 1997. Watson, 43, has been senior vice president of strategic marketing and planning for Reebok International since 1995.

Tourism

Carnival Corp. promoted Howard Frank, 56, to vice chairman and COO of the Miami cruise line operator. Prior to joining Carnival in 1989, Frank spent 23 years with Price Waterhouse, including 14 years as a partner. Gerald Cahill, 46, replaced Frank as senior vice president of finance and CFO.

S. Daniel Stark, 45, was named director of the Bay County Tourist Development Council in Panama City Beach, which had been without a leader since June. Stark spent eight years as executive director of the San Bernardino (Calif.) Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Transportation

Jacksonville's CSX Transportation named Carl N. Taylor executive vice president, operations. Taylor, 58, replaces Gerald L. Nichols, 62, who will retire on July 1 after 42 years with CSXT. Taylor joined the company in 1983 as president and CEO of CSXT subsidiary Fruit Growers Express.

Obituary

Timothy L. Guzzle, chairman of Tampa's TECO Energy and a civic leader, died on January 28 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 61. Guzzle led TECO for a decade, stepping down as CEO late last year. After obtaining a Ph.D. in physics in 1959, he held a number of management posts with General Dynamics, AMF-Ben Hogan and Allegheny International.