Three graduates of Springfield Public Schools have been chosen as inductees to the 2011 class of the SPS Hall of Fame.
Dr. John “Bucky” Buckner III, Doug Pitt and Ginger Robinson are the latest honorees to the Hall of Fame, which was established last year. The three will be honored during an Oct. 20 awards luncheon at University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, according to a news release from the school district.
Buckner, who graduated from Parkview HIgh School in 1979, now serves as a surgeon with Springfield-based Ferrell-Duncan Clinic. Buckner, who earned his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical School and was a surgical resident at the University of Oklahoma, paid for his post-secondary education by joining the Air Force Reserve. He rejoined following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and has since gone on three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, the release said.
Kickapoo High 1985 graduate Pitt co-owns ServiceWorld Computer Center, which received the 1999 Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the year and was named Philanthropic Business of the Year by Springfield Business Journal in 2010. A member of SBJ's inaugural class of Men of the Year, Pitt helps to improve the self-esteem of Springfield-area school children through the nonprofit Care to Learn, which he co-founded. He also works to fight poverty worldwide through WorldServe International and its subsidiary, Africa 6000, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Robinson, a graduate of the Glendale High class of 1976, received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981. Her family eventually relocated to Centennial, Colo. Since March 1994, she has volunteered for Face the Challenge, an organization she started along with her husband. The organization provides facial reconstructive surgery to people in developing countries. She has received a number of honors, including the University of Missouri-Columbia Sinclair School of Nursing Humanitarian Award in 2009 and the Cambridge Who's Who Executive of the Year: Humanitarian Outreach award in 2009, the release said.
The inaugural class of the SPS Hall of Fame comprised Hillcrest High class of 1960 graduate John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General for President George W. Bush from 2001-05; Springfield High class of 1947 graduate Walter Jacob, a retired rabbi and leader of several Jewish organizations; and Hillcrest High class of 1972 graduate Larry D. Young, CEO for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, according to
SBJ archives.
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