Cory-Rawson Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame

CR Collage

The Cory-Rawson Local School district is proud of our alumni who are changing the region, state, nation, or world through their great achievements.  To honor these alumni, we will induct members into our Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.  The nomination guidelines are as follows:

  • Nominees must have graduated from Cory-Rawson High School, Rawson High School, or Mount Cory High School

  • The nominee must have graduated from high school a minimum of 20 years prior to being nominated

  • The nominee must have a special achievement in their area of specialty and/or received honors, awards, or other recognition at a regional, national, or international level occurring after graduation from CRHS.

  • Nominations for posthumous awards will be accepted.

  • Nominations can be made by anyone (family, community members, committee members, current or retired faculty and staff)

  • Following an initial nomination, the committee will retain the nomination for five years.  After five years, a nominee can be re-nominated.

  • All nominations must be submitted using the nomination form (found online and in school offices), which is due November 30 each year.

  • Induction will take place in January/February.

  • The selection committee is composed of current school administrators and faculty, board of education representation, and retired administrators and faculty.

  • The selection committee will meet in December to review the nominations.  A chairperson will contact the inductees after a decision is made.

  • The committee retains the right to remove an inductee based on conduct reflecting poorly on Cory-Rawson Local Schools by ⅔ affirmative vote of the committee.


Click here for the nomination form

2024 INDUCTEES

MAXIE

Melana A. Maxie (Class of 1983)

Melana Maxie graduated from Purdue University in 1987 with a B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Her career in the aerospace defense industry focused on structural analysis, store certification, and weapons integration on the F-16 and F-35 aircrafts. When Melana retired in 2017 she was the F-35 Weapons Integration and Certification Manager, where she ensured all required data was gathered and submitted to the U.S. Government to support certification that all weapons could be safely loaded, carried, and employed on all three variants of the F-35. 

Melana also served her community by coaching volleyball at the YMCA, was a Girl Scout leader, and supported middle school theater productions in set and costume design. During her retirement Melana established a Quilt of Valor Group in Clarendon County. Melana is the Governor and Assistant General for the Society of Mayflower Descendants in South Carolina, and serves the General Society of Mayflower Descendants on several committees and was awarded the Governor General’s Commendation Award in 2023.

SEARFOSS

Jason E. Searfoss (Class of 1990)

Jason Searfoss is a recognized leader in the financial services industry. He has held leadership positions at some of the world’s leading investment managers and banks, as well as at various startups and growth-stage companies. In these capacities, he has built and led finance and investment functions, managed portfolios of alternative assets, and been instrumental in tens of billions of dollars of capital transactions.

Mr. Searfoss co-founded a technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm with more than 200 portfolio companies. He is also an active personal investor in and advisor to dozens of startup- and growth-stage technology companies.

Jason received a MBA with concentrations in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Kenyon College, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society. After completing his undergraduate studies at Kenyon, Jason was one of 40 people selected worldwide to receive a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, and spent 15 months in New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and Nepal during the fellowship. 

In his spare time, Jason is a competitive ultramarathon runner, having completed single-stage races of up to 122 miles and self-supported adventure runs of up to 175 miles in distance. 

WELCH SMITH

Tara C. Welch Smith (Class of 1994)

Dr. Tara Smith is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health  She previously held leadership roles at the University of Iowa College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology where she directed the College’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and attained the rank of associate professor with tenure. While at Iowa, she also obtained a Certificate in Agricultural Safety and Health. She completed post-doctoral training in molecular epidemiology at the University of Michigan prior to beginning her professorship at the University of Iowa. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Toledo, investigating the pathogenesis of the Group A Streptococcus, and her B.S. in Biology from Yale University. 

Tara was the first to identify livestock-associated strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the United States, and has pioneered the investigation of this organism in the United States. Dr. Smith has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. She has received significant funding to carry out these studies. She has presented her research at numerous national and international platforms, including talks on Capitol Hill on the topic of agriculture and antibiotic resistance. Her work has been profiled in many major publications. She served as a subject matter expert during the pandemic for Kent State University and was interviewed hundreds of times by various international news organizations.

Dr. Smith is also very active in science communication and outreach. She maintained a science blog for 11 years, has written a number of books and writes for a number of online news sites.