NEW YORK—Former Cantor Fitzgerald vice president of communications Melanie Gordon-Felsman has joined 5W Public Relations as vice president, leading projects for the consumer, corporate and technology practice. Before serving as vice-president of marketing and communications for the global financial conglomerate, she worked at Reuters, managing marketing and communications for the collaboration group and was a senior product manager at Net2Phone.

NEW YORK—Burson-Marsteller has appointed Sarah Tyre as managing director in its issues and crisis group. She will be based in New York and report to managing director Karen Doyne, head of ICG’s crisis team. Most recently, Tyre was senior vice president and group manager of issues and crisis management at Ketchum, where she held a variety of positions throughout her 15-year tenure.

AUSTIN—Edelman has appointed Morris Denton as executive vice president and general manager of Edelman Austin. Denton will report to Helen Vollmer, the president of Edelman Southwest. Prior to joining Edelman, Denton led the corporate marketing function at AMD and Infor Global Solutions, both global technology companies, and has worked with global brands including Apple, Ferrari, IBM, McAfee, Motorola, NASCAR, and Sprint.

BOSTON—Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications has hired Mark Horan as senior vice president. Horan will direct the financial services, real estate, and retail practice groups at Rasky Baerlein. His clients include Citizens Bank, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and B.J.’s Wholesale Club. He also leads the firm’s efforts on behalf of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Prior to joining the firm, Horan served as senior vice president for external relations at MassTLC and as executive director at Massachusetts Network Communications Council, a telecommunications industry association.

NEW YORK—Dukas Public Relations has promoted Zach Leibowitz to director. Leibowitz most recently was an account supervisor, is responsible for the day-to-day client and media relations activities for several of the firm's marquis accounts, including Gabelli Funds (Gamco), Raymond James and EisnerAmper. He joined DPR in January 2010 after working at Fox Business Network as a segment producer and talent booker.