Leaders in Service Hall of Fame | Southwestern College

Leaders in Service Hall of Fame for the Social Sciences

Southwestern College

The Southwestern College Leaders in Service Hall of Fame for the Social Sciences was established in 2009 in order to honor alumni and friends who have shared significant achievements in the social sciences as represented by the fields of political science, history, religion, philosophy, leadership, anthropology, and psychology.
Paul Bean

Inducted 2024

Paul Bean ’85 graduated from Southwestern College with a bachelor’s degree in international business. He was a member of the centennial class and was a centennial scholar. After 10 years in banking, he spent the next 26 years doing development for Ottawa University and Southwestern College. Throughout his career, Bean has worked to support others. Bean has used his fundraising abilities to support churches, schools, youth programs, physically challenged adults, and the homeless. During COVID-19, he obtained over $130,000 in grants for small businesses that were facing hardship. He established the Franklin County E-Community which has provided over $500,000 in loans and grants to entrepreneurs. Bean has a deep appreciation for the importance that Southwestern College has played in his life. His parents met and graduated from Southwestern College. At Southwestern, it was emphasized by educators such as Larry Wilgers, Rick Johnson, and Alfredo Rodriguez to care for others and do what you can to support them. As a Moundbuilder, Paul has tried to build his community wherever he lives.
Claudia Geer

Inducted 2024

Claudia Geer earned her doctorate from the University of California, Davis in 1995. From there, she was hired as an assistant professor of psychology at Southwestern College. A firm believer in “hands-on” learning, Geer developed lab sessions for general, developmental, and research psychology. She expected students to work hard so they would be proud of their accomplishments, be better prepared for life after college, and be competitive in the worlds of graduate school and professional life. Geer also did everything she could to be available, advise students, and foster student success. Geer received three institutional awards during her tenure at Southwestern: the United Methodist Exemplary Teacher in Higher Education Award (2010), the Charles H. & Vera Kopke Award for Distinguished Teaching (2011), and Faculty Member of the Year Award (2012). From 1995-2012 her professional service to Southwestern College included faculty secretary, faculty chair, psychology program director, and social science division chair.
Willie Williams

Inducted 2024

Willie Williams ’68 has a history of forging diverse collaborative relationships that foster respect and inclusion. While working for the city of Austin, Texas Public Health, he interfaced with planning partnerships, agencies, and governmental entities regarding issues related to mental health, intellectual developmental disabilities, substance use, and services for aging. As a clinician and administrator with Integral Care, the Local Mental Health, Intellectual & Developmental Disability, and Substance Use Authority. Williams was instrumental in redesigning the Community Aids Resource Education (CARE) Outreach program. He implemented a collaborative treatment approach with the faith-based community integrating non-traditional services and advocacy to the HIV/AIDS targeted population.
Velma Grier

Inducted 2023

Velma Grier ’53 dedicated her life to sharing her music, developing life-long friendships, and serving others. During the 1980’s Grier worked as a civilian drug and alcohol abuse counselor for the Army. After 9/11, she volunteered by feeding the workers and then provided free counseling for government employees. She was a well-traveled free-spirited artist, with abstract paintings displayed and sold in art galleries. She had two Steinway pianos in her home because she loved not only teaching piano, but also giving small piano duet concerts to friends and neighbors. Her passion was philanthropy to hundreds of children and adults with whom she taught piano free of charge. Each year, she would rent a large auditorium with a Steinway grand piano for students to give a recital for parents and friends. As her eyesight diminished, she continued to play her piano from memory. She eventually moved to Sarasota, Fla., and continued to play piano and run in the Senior Olympics until her passing in 2020. All her life, she focused on enriching the lives of others with music and by bringing people together.
David Nichols

Inducted 2023

David Nichols ’60 was teaching college orchestra when his participation in the Civil Rights Movement and the influence of Martin Luther King, Jr. set his life on a new course. Nichols decided to become a student once again, this time studying history, earning his PhD in 1975. In 1978, Nichols returned to his alma mater to join the faculty. During his 25 years at Southwestern, he taught economics, chaired the academic business program, supervised the fundraising office during a major capital campaign, and reworked the college’s accreditation evaluation as one of many accomplishments during his 11 years as academic dean. After his retirement in 2003, he established himself as one of the leading scholars on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency. He published three groundbreaking books that are debated amongst US presidential historians and taught widely at colleges and universities. Nichols is a member of the Southwestern College Scholars Hall of Fame. Nichols passed away in November 2022. An incredibly accomplished and loved man, his obituary read, “Dave was valued by many for his mentorship, his encouragement, and his care. He built deep, enduring friendships that brought him tremendous joy.”
Joe Sherman

Inducted 2023

Joseph Sherman ’72 graduated from Southwestern College with a bachelor of arts degree in history/political science in 1972. He then earned his master of arts degree in political science with an emphasis in public administration in 1975 from Wichita State University. Sherman began his career as a director of the Western Kansas Migrant Health Program where he oversaw the delivery of health care for migrant farm workers and their children. This program was a pilot project site for the nationally-recognized WIC (Woman, Infants, and Children Food Program). After earning his Juris Doctor degree, Sherman worked in corporate bankruptcy for 13 years with Scarinci & Hollenbeck, where he defended property tax appeals against municipalities, defended workers compensation claims against public entities, and represented individuals in bankruptcy proceedings and creditors in corporate settings. Ultimately, Sherman was appointed by the New Jersey courts to represent individuals who were incapacitated or at risk for abuse. Since 2007 he has been a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) organization and is the advisory council chair for the BBBS in Henderson, N.C.; and he is the chairman for the Henderson County Board of Equalization and Review.
Wallace Gray

Inducted 2022

Wallace Gray spent his life as a college educator and United Methodist minister. Gray was educated at Central College in Missouri and Southern Methodist and Vanderbilt Universities. He enjoyed language study—Latin, French, German, Greek, and Japanese. He was proud of the two books he translated from Japanese into English. He taught at Southwestern College for 40 years. In addition to Southwestern, he also taught at six universities in the United States and Kitakyushu University in Japan, as well as at the supply pastors’ schools in Kansas City and Dallas. Gray delighted in the brilliance and success of others, but he also spent many hours with struggling students. He was enthusiastic about new ideas, from the logic machine he built to computers when they came into general use, as anyone remembers who came upon him on campus when he shared his latest interest, often at some length. In answer to the question “Where can you go from Winfield, Kansas?” Wallace said, “Anywhere.” So he lived and taught in Japan and Hawaii, and visited 63 countries on five continents.
Mona Petrocco Klein

Inducted 2022

Mona Petrocco Klein ’74 graduated with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics. Following her graduation from Southwestern College, Klein earned a master of science teaching degree at University of Wyoming in 1976. She then taught secondary math and science in Wisconsin and Colorado from 1976-1981. Subsequently, she took additional classes in computer programming and began her career in information technologies for a major telecommunications company headquartered in Denver, Colo. For the next 30 years, Klein advanced from member of technical staff to staff manager, project manager and process manager/coach while also earning an MBA from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Project Management Certificate from the University of Denver. Her volunteer activities included serving as an officer for the Colorado Chapter of USWest Women, an advocacy group for women in telecommunications, and filling a variety of roles in support of monthly meetings and annual symposiums for the Mile Hi Chapter of the Project Management Institute. During the time that Klein served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities Diocese of Pueblo, she became more aware of the existence of human trafficking in the United States and, specifically in Colorado. Developing an interest in combating human trafficking and helping persons who have experienced trafficking, Klein led a group of women in establishing the Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking – Pueblo in 2013. The organization supports collaboration among local service providers and works to improve the quality of services provided to those touched by human trafficking. Klein continues to actively serve on the steering committee and function as newsletter editor and programs co-chair. She also serves as liaison to the Colorado Front Range Anti-Trafficking Coalition (FRAC). In 2017, Klein was certified as a facilitator for the Colorado Human Trafficking Council curriculum. Through December, 2019, she has conducted 18 training sessions for almost 340 service providers and members of the general public. Klein was appointed to a three-year term on the Colorado Human Trafficking Council by Colorado Governor Jared Polis in September 2019, as a representative of a regional/city-wide human trafficking task force or coalition.
Jim Reed

Inducted 2022

Jim Reed ’64 graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in religion and philosophy and has spent his career building groups and institutions. While at Southwestern, Jim was active in the Methodist Student Movement and campus ministry has been a lifelong love of his. He has worked throughout his ministry strengthening the presence of the church on campus. He served several local churches in Kansas: Leon-Rosalia Charge, Associate at Trinity UMC, Hutchinson; Grace UMC, Winfield; Woodlawn UMC, Derby; and First UMC, Manhattan. He also served as Council Director for the Kansas West Conference, and Superintendent of the Hutchinson District. For 22 years, he served as a Chaplain in the Kansas National Guard. He was a member of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1984 and 1996 and of the South Central Jurisdictional Conference from 1980-1996. Jim also served on the Board of Trustees at Southwestern for 12 years. Being a Builder on campus during the 60s engendered a commitment to mercy and justice ministries. In each of his appointments as a pastor in the United Methodist Church, he has helped create agencies that have addressed the issues of the poor and the disenfranchised. Examples would be the creation of Shepherd’s Crossing (an ecumenical helping agency), the Flint Hills Community Clinic, and the Micah Society, all in Manhattan, Kansas. Jim and his wife, Sherry, have two sons, Bryan and Aaron.
Stephanie Sharp Bruyn

Inducted 2019

Stephanie Sharp Bruyn ’98 earned a master’s degree in international affairs and security policy from The George Washington University. At age 27 she was elected to represent Lenexa and Shawnee in the Kansas House of Representatives for three terms. Her she launched the Sharp Record e-newsletter to inform Kansans on activity at the statehouse in a cost- and time-efficient way. Sharp left the legislature in 2008 to further her career and start a family. In 2009, she was elected to the first of two terms on the Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees (2009-2018). She founded Sharp Connections to continue the work of the Sharp Record. The VoteSharp constituent communications app and KanVote.com site are projects intended to deepen candidates’ relationships with voters and increase voter awareness and turnout.
Michael Lennen

Inducted 2019

Michael Lennen ’67 has combined a successful law career with community service and civic engagement. He served as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Revenue (1979-83) and chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission (1983-87) before entering private practice with Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy. During his time with the KCC, Lennen presided over a number of protracted, complex regulatory proceedings. Repeatedly recognized in the “Best Lawyers in America” publication, Lennen’s representation has included complex commercial litigation, consultation, and paritcipation in regulatory and ad valorem tax proceedings and advice on regulatory issues associated with acquisitions of energy and utility properties. His professional interests have been supplemented by a full load of civic engagement, including board service with Southwestern College, the Topeka Symphony, and the Kansas Health Foundation.
Michael Medina

Inducted 2019

Michael Medina ’72 has practiced law for nearly three decades after earning his juris doctor with special distinction from the University of Oklahoma. While his practice includes general business matters and oil and gas transactions, he is an appellate lawyer at heart and he is regularly involved in appeals at every level. Medina joined Frederic Dorwart Lawyers in 1994. For 19 years prior to that he was with Holliman, Langholz, Runnels & Dorwart. During those 19 years, Medina also served as a judge on two occasions. He has published articles spanning topics including insurance law, the Oklahoma appellate process, presidential qualifications in the U.S. Constitution, and take-or-pay clauses in natural gas contracts. He is a charter member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Kelly Bender

Inducted 2018

Dr. Kelly Bender ’68 demonstrated his commitment to serving mankind when he joined fellow SC students and faculty in traveling to Mississippi in 1965 to register black voters in anticipation of the Voting Rights Act. He was pastor of churches in Kansas and Arizona, including First United Methodist Church in Wichita where thousands of viewers watched live Sunday morning worship on the local ABC affiliate. He was awarded the Community Enrichment Award by the Sedgwick County Commission for his leadership in downtown redevelopment, and in 2015 the Roland Brammeier Award from the Board of Global Ministries of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church for his work related to children, hunger and shelter. Kelly’s ministry has proclaimed the radically unconditional grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ, and its equipping of Wesley’s “Vital Piety”– the gospel personal first and social (justice) always.
Mary (Briscoe) Jarvis

Inducted 2018

Mary (Briscoe) Jarvis ’87 was a nontraditional student whose degree in social work helped her build a career of service to persons unable to advocate for themselves. A mother, homemaker, and volunteer worker all of her adult life, highlights of her professional career included serving as a community support coordinator for Cowley County Mental Health and Counseling Center, director of Grace House, and executive director of CASA of Cowley County. However, Winfield, Cowley County, and the region have benefited from her tireless volunteer work for such groups as the Winfield Community Theatre, Art in the Park, Friends of the Library, Winfield Arts and Humanities, the Community Learning Center, and Habitat for Humanity. With her husband, Phil, she was awarded Southwestern College’s Servant Leader Award in 2011.
Dean Strother

Inducted 2018

General Dean Strother ’29 had a distinguished military career, retiring in 1966 as a U.S. Air Force four-star general. After graduation from the U.S. Military Academy in 1931 he earned his flying wings. During World War II he headed Solomon’s Fighter Command, which directed Army, Marine, Navy, and New Zealand fighters as they turned back Japanese advances toward Australia. Later he commanded the 306 Fighter Wing in Italy, and led a fighter task that supported Russians fighting on the Eastern Front. After the war he commanded the West Coast wing of the Air Training Command’s Pacific Division, then the 12th Air Force and the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force in Germany. Domestic assignments included commander-in-chief of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). He died in 2000.
Ted Hresko

Inducted 2017

Ted S. Hresko ’73 has spent his career protecting people and property. As a member of the United States Secret Service from 1974 to 2002, he spent several years as a special agent in the Presidential Protective Division in Washington, D.C. He also was a special agent in Honolulu for more than a decade. After leaving the Secret Service Hresko joined the Federal Air Marshal Service, and as deputy special agent in charge of the transportation security operations center in Reston, Va., supervised more than 200 operation support personnel who monitored and responded to all transportation-related security issues in the United States. He was awarded nine TSA special achievement awards for outstanding performance, as well as four recognition awards and two special achievement awards from the Department of Treasury.
Roy Smith

Inducted 2017

Roy L. Smith 1908 was a clergyman, editor, and lecturer, whose influence was widespread in the first half of the 20th century. Born in a tarpaper shack during an 1887 Kansas blizzard, Smith graduated from Southwestern in 1908. He led congregations in Wellington and Cimarron, but also served the largest Methodist church in the world (First Church in Los Angeles) from 1932 to 1940. During the subsequent eight years he was editor of the Christian Advocate. Often referred to as “Mr. Methodist,” Smith wrote syndicated newspaper columns and dozens of books including the popular The Lord Is My Shepherd. His Tales I Have Told Twice was published after his death in 1963 and includes the story of his time at Southwestern. He also wrote the 12-volume Know Your Bible series.
Richard Wilke

Inducted 2017

Bishop Richard B. Wilke’s contribution to the life of Southwestern College has been an extension of his life of service through the United Methodist Church. A gifted preacher, he pastored churches in Scandia, Winfield, and Salina before becoming senior minister at Wichita First United Methodist, one of the region’s most prominent congregations. Wilke was elected bishop in 1984 and served 12 years in Arkansas. With his wife, Julia, Wilke wrote the “Disciple” Bible study series published in 1987 and this in-depth course has reached more than three million people. Upon retirement Wilke became bishop in residence at Southwestern College, where he catalyzed the college’s reenergized relationship to its denomination. He was instrumental in founding the Institute for Discipleship and has used his connectional influence to bring international students from to study here as Bishop’s Scholars.
Randy Eshelman

Inducted 2016

Randy E. Eshelman ’07 joined the U.S. Army in 1986 and served in conflicts in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. Following retirement from the Army in 2007, Eshelman began working for United States Strategic Command. His duties included developing satellite communications policy and directing the international affairs department in negotiating and managing government-to-government agreements between the U.S. and partner nations. In 2012, Randy led the U.S. delegation that negotiated a six-nation agreement resulting in the largest cooperative agreement for a space-based capability ever achieved by the U.S. Eshelman left government service in 2015 to become chief operating officer for Food Dreams Made Real, FDMR, a start-up focused on Asian food product development. Under its brand “Suji’s Korean Cuisine,” FDMR was named among Top 5 Meals of 2015 by food industry magazine Prepared Foods.
Barbara Johnson Isely

Inducted 2016

Barbara Johnson Isely '64 is a non-conformist. Her passion is justice, advocating a more equal sharing of material and non-material resources, and alerting the privileged to their responsibility for inequities caused by over-consumption and control of resources. After a career as a public school orchestra teacher and sociologist at Oregon State University, in 1999 she was invited to lead choirs for children in Vellore, India, where she was teaching sociology in the community health department. In Sri Lanka, she created teacher training for use of music with young children traumatized by war and tsunami, and she led workshops for the Ceylon Bible Society for children and youth excluded from competitive choirs. Her focus is on how to include and expand the skills of all persons, rather than exclude the seemingly less talented.
Mabel Madeline Southard

Inducted 2016

Mabel Madeline Southard 1899 lived her life as a response to God’s call for her to preach, becoming a preacher and evangelist in her teens. With an A.B. from Southwestern College and an M.A. from Garrett Biblical Institute, she worked for ecclesial suffrage, serving as a delegate to the General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1920 and 1924. After a brief stint with prohibitionist Carry Nation (including the famous Topeka saloon smashing raid in in 1901), she lectured briefly for the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) circuit before settling in on a life of itinerant preaching and evangelism. Her career extended to the Philippines and India, and she founded an organization for women ministers. She lived to be 90, maintaining a personal diary from the time she was fourteen years old.
David Froman

Inducted 2015

F. David Froman ’68 has practiced law since 1978. He holds degrees from the University of San Diego, the USD Institute of International and Comparative Law in Paris, and Harvard Law School. A naval flight officer, then a JAG Corps officer in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1990, Froman had two combat tours in Vietnam and over 200 carrier landings. For three years he served in the Pentagon as the Navy's international law attorney for foreign military sales, international operational agreements, and immigration. When he retired from the Navy, he served as a tort litigation attorney for the County of San Diego. He is now in private practice emphasizing immigration law. David is recognized by the State Bar of California as a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law.
Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez

Inducted 2015

Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez ’94 leads nationally-recognized initiatives to transform child welfare systems. As executive vice president of practice and leadership integration for KVC Health Systems, she was known for her fearlessness in tackling deep-rooted challenges to benefit children and families. Prior to this, Sandra was on assignment from KVC to the Washington, D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, where she helped reduce by 47% the number of children coming into foster care each month, shorten the time children spend in foster care from an average of 48-60 months to 13 months, and increase by one-third the number of children staying with relatives. Sandra also has been president of KVC Nebraska, where she led that team to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of 4,700 children and their families. In 2015, Sandra joined the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore to lead the efforts of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
John William “Bill” Todd

Inducted 2015

John William “Bill” Todd ’61 is a speech professor, a debate coach—and chief of two African tribes. He joined the Peace Corps four years after his SC graduation and helped establish a hospital in Sierra Leone. Because of his commitment to their work, a Nigerian priest asked Todd to be chief of the Mende in Sierra Leone and the Anang in Nigeria. He then spent 11 years as a speech professor and administrator at the University of Michigan. At Ferris State University, he was the director of debate and speech and of international programs. Through these programs, Todd helped start the University of Belize, established Lakeland College in Wisconsin, and became vice president of Elliare International College in Tokyo. He established educational programs in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, Malaysia, and China.
Bruce Blake

Inducted 2014

Bruce Blake was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He served as president of Southwestern College from 1984-1988 and served as bishop of the church from 1988-2004. As a local church pastor, Blake studied the thought of Robert Greenleaf, author of Servant Leadership. He became convinced that leadership is not defined by the positions one holds but by whether one is followed. As SC president, Bruce instituted a servant leadership component of college life and initiated a Servant Leadership award. As a bishop of the United Methodist Church in Dallas and Oklahoma, Bruce led seminars, wrote books and advocated through a variety of strategies that pastoral leadership is not the result of holding the office of pastor, but rather offering a vision of servant leadership for congregations.
Harry Dunn

Inducted 2014

Harry H. Dunn ’23 was a participant in some of his generation’s most pivotal political moments. In 1923, he toured Europe on a Pilgrimage of Friendship and was in Germany when Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. He was a teacher, principal and coach at Bucklin (Kan.) High School, then earned his law degree from the University of Chicago. He was county attorney in Hutchinson during World War II before being elected to two terms in the Kansas Legislature. There he authored Kansas laws concerning living trusts. Long active in the Republican Party, Dunn was a delegate to the 1964 national convention in San Francisco. When his son was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Dunn represented the National League of Families and met with President Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
Pedro Esquivel

Inducted 2014

Pedro M. Esquivel ’62 was a civil rights pioneer and one of the first staff members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He joined the commission in 1965 to assist in the recruitment and training of staff in the enforcement of the 1964 civil rights statute. After serving for several years in the commission’s Washington, D.C. headquarters he became director of the Commission’s Denver office (Rocky Mountain Region) from 1971 to 1985. He then accepted the directorship of the San Antonio office. In 1985 he was inducted into the Senior Executive Service (the government’s highest civilian service rank). Esquivel remained in San Antonio until his retirement in 2012. He was the most senior government employee in the Commission (52 years) and the longest-serving staff member having started since the Commission’s creation.
Scott Hecht

Inducted 2013

Scott Hecht ’90 earned a degree in economics from Southwestern College before attending Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1993. He began practicing in the Kansas City office of Stinson Mag & Fizzell, P.C. (now Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP) and became a partner in 2000. He has handled a wide range of disputed matters, primarily for corporations and other business organizations. Hecht has advised clients in both man-made and natural catastrophes. He routinely represents on a pro bono basis deserving clients who have fallen victim to tragedy or need business advice. Hecht helped found CLJ Foundation, which provides life skills and job training to developmentally disabled adults in Wyandotte County. He is on the board of directors of the Lansing Education Foundation and has served on Southwestern’s Board of Trustees.
Carl Metzger

Inducted 2013

Carl M. Metzger ’71 is a native Kansan who grew up in Wichita and Salina. He spent his professional career as a city administrator, beginning as a city administrator in Halstead and Hillsboro (both in Kansas) before assuming his first city manager position in Concordia. In early 1985 his family left Kansas and moved to Ankeny, Iowa, where he would spend more than 27 years as city manager and helped a community of 15,000 grow into a city of nearly 50,000 people. He retired from his position and from the city management profession in 2012. He has been president of the Kansas Association of City Management; a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, and a life member of the International City/County Management Association.
Victor Sherring

Inducted 2013

Victor C. Sherring ’41 was born in 1918 in Kanpur, India, and died in 2004 in New Delhi. His special talents were recognized early by a missionary from Hutchinson, Kansas, who arranged for his enrollment at Southwestern College. He was a student pastor at Grace United Methodist Church, as well as a Masterbuilder. He earned degrees from Garret Biblical Institute and Northwestern University. From 1945 to 2004 Sherring dedicated his life to church service in India. He was district superintendent to three districts and president of a Methodist college. His name was synonymous with construction, whether building lives or buildings. A talented musician, Victor organized and conducted the India Centenary Choir and Orchestra. He also composed “Jaya Ho,” a hymn based on a Hindi melody that was later included in the United Methodist Hymnal.
Larry Eason

Inducted 2012

Larry D. Eason ’55 was the founding president and CEO of the Child Study Center in Fort Worth, heading the agency for 38 years. The center was a merger of six agencies serving handicapped children and provided diagnostic and treatment services to children with developmental disabilities. After retiring in 1999, Eason became a consultant to not-for-profit organizations providing counsel on strategic planning and fund development. His first client was Union Gospel Mission where he led the agency in the development of a 10-year master plan. He then became a member of the board of directors, and during the past 11 years he has served as president of this board. Larry was a member of Southwestern’s Board of Trustees (1998-2010), including service as chair of the Board, and co-chaired the Builders of Excellence capital campaign.
Eugene Lowry

Inducted 2012

Eugene L. Lowry ’55 is an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church, and was professor of preaching at Saint Paul School of Theology for three decades (1968-98), and has traveled through the years as preacher, teacher, and pianist. He has been involved in public affairs and church-related projects as a volunteer in Kansas City. In 1964 he was named to the Human Relations Commission of Kansas City, Mo., a group charged with implementing the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on Civil Disorders. As chair, he guided the commission in its work of arbitration, influence, and consciousness-training. In 1992 he was named to the Board of Trustees of the Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library. Three major building projects were completed during his 13 years on the board. He also initiated development of a preschool for disadvantaged children.
Myrne Roe

Inducted 2012

J. Myrne (Richards) Roe ’58 is a retired editorial writer and syndicated columnist for the Wichita Eagle and her column was published regularly at newspapers across the country. Her columns about her struggles with chronic, clinical depression won several awards from public health and mental health organizations. Roe has taught in Wichita public schools and at Wichita State University. She was campaign manager for Dan Glickman’s successful first campaign for Congress, then served 10 years as his chief aide. She also headed the Office of University Communications at Wichita State University for four years, where her staff won numerous national communication, advertising, and publication awards. Roe was awarded the Kansas Public Relations Society’s Clarus Award for Professional of the Year in 1987. Roe is a skilled poet, with a published chapbook and works included in regional publications.
Kristine “Kris” Cheatum

Inducted 2012

Mary Kristine “Kris” (Lange) Cheatum ’59 was a social worker by profession but her passion to make the world better extended throughout her life. She had a remarkable career as an activist and advocate for a wide range of progressive issues from the Cesar Chavez grape boycott to the war in Afghanistan. Over her 50-year career as a human rights and social justice activist Cheatum campaigned, published numerous letters in major newspapers, protested, lobbied, volunteered, and marched. She was arrested five times for anti-nuclear civil disobedience at the Mercury and Los Alamos nuclear sites. She will be remembered by her family and friends as a tireless, joyful, hilarious, energetic woman with an indomitable spirit who added far more to this world than she took.
Forrest Robinson

Inducted 2011

Forrest J. Robinson ’44 entered the Christian ministry in 1959 after serving in the United States Army. He was senior minister at both First United Methodist Church in Winfield and at First United Methodist Church in Wichita, where he worked for fairness on the important racial issues of housing and equal opportunity. He led in establishing an inter-institutional alternative energy program in the state and served as the governor’s liaison for economic development following his campaign for governor in 1974. He was interim president of Southwestern College then became vice president for development, and later served as the Kansas Secretary on Aging. During his retirement he completed a nationwide lecture tour on his experiences as a liberator of Holocaust death camps during World War II.
James “Jim” Shultz

Inducted 2011

James J. “Jim” Shultz ’61 exhibited diversity during his multi-faceted career, but underlying the diversities are continuities drawn from family (missionaries and farmers), church (values and truth speaking), and Southwestern College (speech skills and non-specialized intellectual curiosity). During the first quarter century after graduation, Shultz consulted with more than 50 organizations beginning with the YMCA during the 1960s. At the time of the U2 crisis he was arrested in the USSR for handing out Russian-language gospels in Moscow. The notoriety changed his life and launched a decade-long speaking tour. In the mid-1980s Shultz earned his special education credentials and began teaching students disabled by mental health problems. Special needs came home when his 19-year-old son suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, and Shultz helped him re-learn speech.
Billie Day

Inducted 2010

Billie Ann Day ’60 began her community and international service as a YWCA Volunteer Abroad in Turkey; then as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers, she served in Sierra Leone. She began teaching with the Urban Teacher Corps and spent her career committed to encouraging students to broaden their perspectives. She later served as an international election observer (in Bosnia and Sierra Leone) and FEMA volunteer (Mississippi).She has been president of social studies associations, Peace Corps alumni, World Hunger Education Service, Friends of Sierra Leone, and of the DC League of Women Voters and served on the boards of the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Peace Corps Association. She received the Daniel Roselle Lecture Award, and Fulbright Scholarships to the Netherlands and Brazil.
Lyman Johnson

Inducted 2010

Lyman Schiller Johnson ’28, minister and teacher, earned his graduate degrees from Iliff School of Theology, and was ordained elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1931. A leader in the United Methodist Church, he served six times as a delegate to General Conference and on many boards and commissions. His passion for justice led him to integrate a local church, recruit Japanese American youth for Southwestern College and thus get them released from relocation centers during World War II, and serve as a member of the “Commission of 70” that framed the plan for full participation of African-American members in the denomination.
Darnell Jones

Inducted 2010

C. Darnell Jones II ’72 was sworn in as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2008. Jones began serving as a judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia in 1987, then became president judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania in 2005. During his tenure as president judge of Pennsylvania’s largest judicial district, he was appointed chair of the Administrative Governing Board. Before becoming a judge, he practiced law at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where he served as chief of the Family Court Division. At the request of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he oversaw the development of a curriculum for trial judges presiding over capital cases. Judge Jones was named one of the 500 leading judges in America.
A.J. “Jack” Focht

Inducted 2009

A.J. “Jack” Focht ’57 has combined community service with his practice of law during a career that began in 1960. His success as both a defense lawyer and a prosecuting attorney led to his induction as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1982, an honor limited to the top one percent of the total lawyer population. He has served as president of the local and state Bar Associations and received the Distinguished Service Award from each organization. Focht has been a leader in task forces to end homelessness, Diversity Kansas, the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, the Kansas Health Institute, the Wichita Area Girl Scout Council, the Wichita City Election Boundary Commission, and the United Way Children’s Mental Health Task Force. He is a long-time trustee of Southwestern College.
Loy Henderson

Inducted 2009

Hon. Loy W. Henderson ’15 was a United States foreign service officer and diplomat. His service included stints as U.S. Minister in Iraq (1943-45), U.S. Ambassador to India (1948-51), and U.S. Ambassador to Iran (1951-54). From 1945 to 1948 he served at the State Department in Washington, as the director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs. He had a hand in much of the foreign policy planning regarding the Cold War, including the Truman Doctrine. In 1954, he was appointed as assistant secretary of state. He retired in 1960 and spent seven years teaching international relations at American University. His memoirs, A Question of Trust: The Origins of U.S.-Soviet Diplomatic Relations, were published in 1986. The major auditorium in the State Department headquarters, the Harry S. Truman Building, is named after Henderson.
Carl Martin

Inducted 2009

Carl E. Martin ’60 has been a servant leader throughout his life. A United Methodist minister, he was a faculty member and chaplain of Southwestern College during the Vietnam war (1967-74), becoming a participant in the ethical dilemmas faced by those forced to participate in the war, and was challenged to relate the Christian faith to an anti-institutional wave that swept American culture. As a local church pastor, he chaired the Hunger Task Force of the Kansas West Annual Conference, leading the conference’s response to the global food crisis. While president of Southwestern from 1988 to 1998, he focused on the disciplines of leadership and management, and as president and CEO of United Methodist Youthville in 2001 he guided the institution through a major financial crisis. He was a board member of Kansas Health Ethics from 2000-2006.
Kim Moore

Inducted 2009

M. Kim Moore ’71 graduated from Washburn Law School and practiced law until 1987 when he was hired as the first president of the United Methodist Health Ministry fund. During his 22 years in that role, the Health Ministry Fund has provided more than $50 million in grants to support health projects throughout Kansas. His passions during those years have included health care reform, hospice care, intergenerational programming, congregational health ministries, and oral health. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Oral Health Kansas. He also was a trustee of Southwestern College for 16 years. In the United Methodist Church, Moore was a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences in 2008, and alternate delegate to Jurisdictional Conference in 2004. He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader on health, nonprofit, and philanthropic topics.
James “Jim” Robinson

Inducted 2009

F. James “Jim” Robinson, Jr. ’80 is an attorney in Wichita with a diverse business litigation practice. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Chambers and Partners, and Super Lawyers in Missouri and Kansas. In 2007 he received the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel Distinguished Service Award. From 1985 through 2006 Jim served the board of directors of United Methodist Youthville, Inc., in positions including president and chairperson. He continues to serve on Youthville’s advisory council. Robinson also has served on other boards of child welfare agencies, and in 2002 he received the National Award for Board Leadership from the Child Welfare League of America. He has been chairperson of the Conference Commission on Higher Education and the Conference Commission on Institutional Ministries for the United Methodist Church.
Edward Salm

Inducted 2009

Edward H. Salm discovered the world through books while camping along the Arkansas River as a child. After graduating from high school, he drove his 1931 Ford 4,500 miles through Mexico. This experience sparked a lifelong interest in anthropology and archaeology. Salm joined the Southwestern College faculty as assistant professor of sociology/anthropology in 1965, initiating extensive archaeological excavations in Cowley County. These excavations led to the discovery of a late culture of Walnut River people dating sometime between the 1500s and the 1700s. Salm conducted winter term field trips throughout Mexico and twice-yearly field studies to the southwestern United States. In 1978, Salm left Southwestern to become chief pilot and consultant for Project Nord Shaba in Kongolo, Zaire, under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development. He retired in 1984.
David Swartz

Inducted 2009

Hon. David H. Swartz ’64 joined the United States Foreign Service in 1967, and served nearly 29 years before retiring in 1995. His diplomatic postings included Rotterdam, London, Moscow, Kiev, Zurich, Calgary, and Warsaw. In Washington, Swartz’s assignments included staff director, U.S. Nuclear Risk Reduction center, and dean, School of Language Studies, Foreign Service Institute. In 1992, he was confirmed as the first U.S. ambassador to the again-independent Republic of Belarus, where he served until 1994. In retirement, Swartz was Scarff Visiting Professor of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. He returned to active diplomatic work as ambassador and head of mission to Moldova of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In 2006 Swartz was instrumental in the establishment of the Center for Belarusian Studies at Southwestern College.