Robert Battle
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Miami Northwestern Senior Highl (Class of 1990)
Allapattah Junior High
Orchard Villa Elementary
Dancer and choreographer Robert Battle is the 2014 inductee for Arts & Entertainment. He is recognized for his genius in honoring the traditions of classical and African-American dance idioms while reinventing them for new audiences and generations, for his profound and lasting impact on the evolution of dance worldwide, and for his ongoing work with the students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and beyond.
Academic Career:
Orchard Villa Elementary School • Allapattah Junior High School • Miami Northwestern Senior High School • New World School of the Arts (Class of 1990) B.F.A., The Juilliard School
MDCPS Highlights:
Performing and Visual Arts Center (PAVAC) choral and dance programs, Miami Northwestern Senior High School
Professional Highlights:
Dancer and Choreographer, Parsons Dance Company (1994 - 2001) • Founder and Artistic Director, Battleworks Dance Company (2002 - 2011) • Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2011 - present) • Masters of African-American Choreography Award, Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts (2005) • Princess Grace Foundation-USA Statue Award (2007)
Public Service Highlights:
AlleyDance Kids • AlleyCamp • New Directions Choreography Lab • United Nation Leaders Programme • UNICEF Senior Leadership Development Programme
Business
Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer &
Board of Directors Member, Facebook
Miami Palmetto Senior High School (Class of 1982)
Sheryl Sandberg is the 2014 inductee in the Business category. She is honored her creation of business models that have transformed the way we share
information, do business, socialize, and live, and for her powerful advocacy on behalf of women in the workplace.
Academic Career:
Ojus Elementary School • Highland Oaks Junior High School • North Miami Beach Senior High School (Class of 1987) B.A., Economics, Harvard College (1991) • M.B.A., Harvard Business School (1995)
MDCPS Highlights:
Sophomore Class President • National Honor Society member • Senior Class Executive Board member
Professional Highlights:
Economist, World Bank • Management Consultant, McKinsey & Company • Chief of Staff, United States Secretary of the Treasury • Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations, Google, Inc. • Chief Operating Officer, Facebook • First woman member of Facebook’s board of directors • Author,
Lean In: Woman, Work, and the Will to Lead
Public Service Highlights:
Founder, LeanIn.Org • The Giving Pledge • Led launch of Google.org, Google, Inc.’s philanthropic arm
Most Influential Teacher:
Sheila Firestone, Elementary gifted-education program
Public Service
Wilkie Ferguson Graham
U.S. District Court
Miami Northwestern Senior High
(Class of 1955)
District Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr., is the 2014 inductee in the Public Service category.
Academic Career:
Northwestern High School (Class of 1956) B.S., Business Administration, Florida A&M University • J.D., Howard University School of Law
M-DCPS Highlights:
Professional Highlights: Staff attorney of Legal Services for Greater Miami (1968-1970) • Co-founder of McCrary, Ferguson & Lee • Staff Attorney for Dade County School Board (1972-1973) • First Florida African American Federal Judge • Appointed by Bill Clinton to United States District Court (Southern District of Florida) (1993-2003)
Public Service Highlights:
Judicial Council of the National Bar Association • Just the Beginning Foundation • Distinguished Service Award from the South Florida Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration • United Way of Dade County’s Leadership Award • Outstanding Jurist Award from the National Bar Association
Judge Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. began his life in Miami and grew up in segregated public schools. In 1956, Ferguson graduated with the class of Miami Northwestern High School then he attained a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida A&M College and proceeded to enlist in the army where he attained the rank of second lieutenant. Once Ferguson was discharged from active duty, he pursued a Juris Doctor Degree from the Howard University School of Law. After law school he returned to Miami and co-founded the law firm McCrary, Ferguson and Lee. Then, following two years a
s an assistant school board attorney, Ferguson earned the honor of being appointed the first African-American in the Dade County Circuit Court. Four years later he was the first African-American appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal. Finally, he was nominated by President Clinton to serve as a United States District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida where he stayed until he passed from leukemia in 2003. In honor of his memory the Florida Black Panthers Lawyers Association, dedicated to promoting diversity in legal education, renamed their organization after the judge.
Science, Technology,
Engineering & Math
Henry Edward Roberts
Inventor of the first personal computer
Miami Senior High (Class of 1959)
Citrus Grove Junior High
Citrus Grove Elementary
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Henry Edward Roberts is the 2014 inductee in the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math category, honored for sparking a technological evolution and transforming civilization with his invention of the world’s first personal computer, and for his devotion to serving the people of Cochran, Georgia, as a medical doctor.
Academic Career:
Citrus Grove Elementary School • Citrus Grove Junior High School • Miami Senior High School (Class of 1959) University of Miami • Cryptographic Equipment Maintenance School (1962-1965) • B.S., Electrical Engineering, Oklahoma State University (1968) • M.D., Mercer University (1986)
M-DCPS Highlights:
AV Club • Football • Homeroom Chaplain
Professional Highlights:
Co-founder, MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) (1970) • Developed the Altair 8800, the world’s first personal computer (1975) • Worked with Bill Gates and Paul Allen in the creation of BASIC, the computer language that launched Microsoft • Elected to Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society for his dual accomplishments of developing the first personal computer and devoting the latter part of his career to rural medicine.
Public Service Highlights:
Officer, United States Air Force
Sports
Gardnar Mulloy
Tennis legend
Miami Senior High School (Class of 1932)
Ada Merritt Junior High
Highland Park Elementary
Gardnar Mulloy is the 2014 inductee in the Sports category. He is honored for a brilliant athletic career spanning the 20th Century and the start of the 21st; for his unique role in popularizing tennis for sport, exercise, and entertainment, particularly among seniors; and for his selfless work as a champion for animal and human rights.
Academic Career:
Highland Park Elementary School • Ada Merritt Junior High School • Miami Senior High School (Class of 1932) Bachelor’s and Juris Doctor degrees, University of Miami
MDCPS Highlights:
Junior high school Football • Senior high school Tennis, Basketball
Professional Highlights:
Wimbledon doubles championship (with Budge Patty in 1957) • Four US National Championships doubles titles (with Bill Talbert in 1942, 1945, 1946, 1948) • U.S. Nationalmen’s singles finalist (1952) • 6th-ranked man in the world (1947) • 1st-ranked American man (1952)• Member of three Davis Cup
championship teams • Career single record: 567-215 • More than 127 national championships and 25 international titles in more than 75 years of competition • International Tennis Hall of Fame (1972)
Public Service Highlights:
Lieutenant, United States Navy (awarded medal of commendation for heroism) • Founder, Pet Rescue • Founder, Mulloy Cup for international tennis tournament for senior men.
Frederica S. Wilson
U.S. Congresswoman
Educator
Miami Northwestern Senior High
(Class of 1959)
D.A. Dorsey Junior High
Liberty City Elementary
Singular Achievement
United States Representative Frederica S. Wilson is a 2014 inductee for Singular Achievement. She is honored for her distinguished career as a Miami-Dade County School Board member, Florida legislator and United States Congresswoman, and for her tireless work on behalf of society’s most vulnerable and least powerful citizens.
Academic Career:
Liberty City Elementary School • D.A. Dorsey Junior High School • Miami Northwestern Senior High School (Class of 1959) B.S., Education, Fisk University (1963) • M.S., Education, University of Miami (1972)
MDCPS Highlights:
Student council president, Senior class secretary, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, Drama, Yearbook literary editor, Future Teachers of America, Y-Teens
Professional Highlights:
Teacher, Lillie C. Evans Elementary School • Assistant Education Coordinator, Head Start • Assistant Principal, Scott Lake Elementary School • Assistant Principal and Principal, Skyway Elementary School • Miami-Dade County School Board Member (1992 - 1998) • Florida House of Representatives, Minority Whip (1998 - 2002) • Florida Senate, Minority Leader Pro Tempore and Minority Lead Whip (2003 - 2010) • United States House of Representatives (2010–present)
Public Service Highlights:
Founder, 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project (1993) • Teaching Example for the Nation Award (1997) • Sponsor of “Rilya Wilson Act” in the 112th Congress • Broward Black Elected Officials Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Community Service Award (2013) • member of LINKS, Inc.
Most Influential Teacher:
Dr. Earl Wells, Miami Northwestern Senior High School
Singular Achievement
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
U.S. Congresswoman
Educator
Southwest Miami Senior High
(Class of 1970)
West Miami Junior High
Southside Elementary
United States Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a 2014 inductee for Singular Achievement. She is honored for her historic service as a Florida Legislator and United States Congresswoman, and for her distinguished work as an educator, public servant, and ambassador for the rich and vibrant culture of Greater Miami.
Academic Career:
Southside Elementary School • West Miami Junior High • Southwest Miami High School (Class of 1970) A.A., Education, Miami-Dade Community College
• B.S. and M.S. , Education, Florida International University • Ph.D., Education, University of Miami
Professional Highlights:
Founding Principal and Teacher, Eastern Academy, Hialeah • First Hispanic woman to serve in the Florida House of Representatives (1982-1986), Florida Senate (1986-1989), and United States House of Representatives (1989 - present)
Public Service Highlights:
Outstanding Leadership and Contribution to our Children, Their Education, and Collective Future, Dade County School Board (1998) • Community Smiles Community Leadership Award (2007) • Excellence Award for Outstanding Public Service, Dade County Bar Association (2013) • School visits, safety initiatives, and motivational interactions with Miami-Dade County Public School students
Most Influential Teacher:
Larry Gordon, Southwest Miami Senior High School