Affairs

Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. has appointed Mark S. Dodson as the company’s president and COO. Dodson, 56, had served as NW Natural’s senior vice president of public affairs and general counsel since 1997. In his new position, he will have responsibility for all day-to-day operations of the company and report directly to CEO Richard G. Reiten. Dodson was a partner in the law firm of Ater Wynne Hewitt Dodson & Skerrit in Portland from 1980 to 1997. He also has worked in the general counsel’s office of the U.S. Department of Transportation and was a special counsel to the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C.