Graziadio Succeeds Eltinge at Helm of Imperial Bancorp

George L. Graziadio has been elected chairman of Imperial Bancorp, to succeed George M. Eltinge, who died in August. Graziadio will also retain his responsibilities as president and chief executive of the Los Angeles-based bank, which he and Eltinge founded in 1963. Imperial Bank, which has assets of $2.4 billion, is the principal subsidiary of Imperial Bancorp.

GTE California has named Mike Crawford regional president for California, a new position. Before this appointment Crawford, 48, was vice president and general manager of GTE’s West Area, which includes the Northwest, California and Hawaii. The Thousand Oaks-based company supplies local and long-distance telephone service. It is a wholly owned unit of Stamford, Conn.-based GTE Corp.

Harold J. Walbrink has been named to the new position of senior vice president, operations and technology at Birtcher Medical Systems Inc., an Irvine-based developer and manufacturer of surgical products and related accessories. He will be responsible for manufacturing, operations, regulatory affairs and quality assurance. He also will continue to oversee research and development. Before his promotion, Walbrink was vice president of research and design. He joined Birtcher in 1990 after being with Hughes Aircraft Co., General Dynamics and Coopervision Surgical.