A+ Foundation to host Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor
The A+ Foundation will celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor April 26-27. This year, six individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Honor. These individuals are: Raphael Podolsky, William Farrar, Eric Whitaker, Julie Ann Cassiday, Timothy Fisher and Kristen Ziman. The banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at the Aurora Country Club. Tickets are $75. For tickets, visit weblink.donorperfect.com/hoh.
For questions, call Randi Ochsenschlager, (630) 897-6785 or email to rloxie@sbcglobal.net.
2019 Hall of Honor inductees
• Raphael Podolsky (Rafie), Class of 1961, has devoted his life to serving the disadvantage, preserving historical sites and performing community service. He has been an attorney and legislative advocate for the Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut and, since 1976, has negotiated with the Connecticut Legislature for low-income housing, landlord-tenant issues, family issues and consumer rights. He is one of the founders of the Hartford Preservation Alliance, where his work includes research, fundraising, doing historic preservation surveys and ordinance drafting to save many historical buildings in Hartford from demolition. Podolsky also began a debate team for the Hartford Public High School, preparing inner city kids for debates. At West High School, Rafie was a member of its nationally famous debate team.
• Dr. William Farrar, Class of 1967, serves as the interim chief executive officer of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, as well as serving as the director of the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center, Medical Director of Credentialing, Professor of Surgery, and Chair in Surgical Oncology. Dr. Farrar also is a Fellow in the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow, which honors surgeons who have made substantial contributions to their specialty. He is involved in the teaching of the next generation of surgeons in the field of cancer research and practice. He is a professor of surgery at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and volunteers at the Columbus Cancer Clinic, a free clinic for cancer exams and mammography screenings. At West High, Farrar was involved in football, basketball, track and a cappella choir.
• Honorable Eric Whitaker, Class of 1974, served in the Peace Corps as a community health volunteer in the Philippines, where he taught practical skills in environmental sanitation, digging wells, controlled rodent and insect infestation. He had similar responsibilities in other African countries between 1990 and 2018. As an administrator, he was also active in stopping terrorist activities and human trafficking as well as rebuilding war torn countries. In the embassies to which he was assigned, Dr. Whitaker has focused on health issues, including clean water and self-production of food, building safety procedures for immigrants entering countries, and improving relations with the United States. While at West High, Eric played clarinet in the concert band and was a member of the Chess Club and National Honor Society.
• Dr. Julie Ann Cassiday, Class of 1982, was hired directly out of graduate school as an assistant professor of Russian language by Williams College, a private liberal arts college in Massachusetts. She currently serves as Willcox B. and Harriet M. Adsit Professor of Russian, Department of German and Russian, Williams College. Cassiday also has volunteered and taught five different courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, has lectured several times for the Green Mount Academy of Lifelong Learning, and has been invited to deliver a public lecture by the Bennington branch of the American Association of University Women on Vladimir Putin and his cult of personality. She has served as president of the Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies and helped kickoff the organization's first fundraising campaign. Her hobbies include beekeeping. During her time at West High she was in both concert and marching bands, drama, track, Mathletes and National Honor Society.
• Dr. Timothy Fisher, Class of 1987, is a professor of mechanical engineering at UCLA and specializes in heat transfer and nanotechnology. He is the founding director of the Center of Integrated Thermal Management of Aerospace Vehicles. He is also a professor at UCLA, having previously taught at Purdue University, School of Mechanical Engineering and Vanderbilt University. He leads the Nanoscale Transport Research Group, which studies transport processes by electrons, phonons, photons, and fluids, with an eye toward addressing problems in aerospace, energy, micro-and nanoelectronics and sensor systems. Dr. Fisher has graduated more than 70 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from his lab at UCLA as well as teaching/mentoring over a thousand undergraduate students. At West High, Tim played basketball, baseball, was a member of the National Honor Society and the Junior Engineering Team.
• Kristen Ziman, Class of 1991, is currently Chief of Police for Aurora. Ziman rose through the ranks of the department, beginning as a cadet in 1991, moving to patrol officer, member of the Aurora Police Honor Guard, investigator of domestic violence, a FTO Sergeant, Lieutenant, Commander and finally, in 2016, was appointed chief of police. She is involved in local and regional organizations, and has been keynote speaker for local and national conventions. She serves on the Illinois Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Committee, the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council and has served as President of the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives. She has been asked to serve as commentator for the shooting in Orlando in 2016, the police officer deaths in Dallas in 2016, and immigration issues in the United States. Ziman was involved with the Red and Blue, the West High newspaper during her years at West as well as being an active member of Theatre Troupe 2013 and performer in many productions.