2012 Clayton Alumni Inductees Include Shaw, Kalish, Spilker

Ten new members have been inducted into the Clayton Alumni Hall of Fame, the Clayton Alumni Association announced last week in a news release.

They will be honored at a ceremony at 6 p.m. June 2 at the St. Louis Club, 7701 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $100 per person and may be purchased from the Alumni Association by emailing Karen McBride at karenmcbride@claytonschools.net or calling her at 314-854-6014.

The following descriptions of the inductees are taken from the Alumni Association news release. Links have been added:

Scott Adzick (‘71) — Dr. Adzick is the surgeon-in-chief at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the C. Everett Koop Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is the founder and director of the hospital’s Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. He is recognized worldwide for his contributions to the field of pediatric surgery and for his creative leadership at CHOP to enhance the surgical care of children.

Jeff Drazen (‘64) — Dr. Drazen majored in physics at Tufts University and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1972. Through his research, Dr. Drazen defined the role of novel endogenous chemical agents in asthma, leading to four new licensed pharmaceuticals for asthma. In 2000, he assumed the post of editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. During his tenure, the Journal has published major papers advancing the science of medicine, including the first descriptions of SARS and modifications in the treatment of cancer, heart disease and lung disease, as well as remaining at the forefront of the international effort to register all clinical trials.

Kay Kranzberg Drey (‘50) — Drey has devoted her life to civil rights and to saving the planet. She volunteered in the civil rights field promoting racial integration in neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. As an environmentalist, she has done much research and collected materials on a broad range of environmental issues, maintaining a library that is used by media, government officials and members of the public. Drey and her husband have been the recipients of many awards including most recently, the St. Louis Business Journal’s Heroes of the Planet/Sustainable Visionaries and the Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation.

James S. Hirsch (‘80) — Hirsch is a journalist and author who has written extensively about sports, race and social justice. His best-selling biography on Willie Mays, named by the New York Times as one of the 100 notable books of 2010, culminated his love for baseball that began on the playgrounds of and has been nurtured by his many years following the Cardinals. He was a reporter for The New York Times for three years, The Wall Street Journal for nine years and he has written numerous nonfiction books.

Bethany Johnson-Javois (‘92) — Johnson-Javois is CEO of the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, a non-profit that serves the region’s safety net health care providers and the local community to promote quality, affordable, accessible care to all with an emphasis on providing health care to the underserved. Her work in both physical and behavioral healthcare has positioned the St. Louis safety net health care system as a national model for collaborative innovation in community-based healthcare. The St. Louis American Foundation recently honored Johnson-Javois in the inaugural class of Young Leaders under 40. She also received the Access to Equal Justice Award from the Washington University School of Law Clinical Education Program.

Karen S. Kalish (‘63) — Kalish is a social entrepreneur focused on literacy, closing the academic, opportunity and achievement gaps, and ending racial discrimination.  She is the founder of Cultural Leadership, founder and executive director of Home Works! The Teacher Home Visit Program and Books and Badges, and is president of the Estelle W. and Karen S. Kalish Foundation. She has served on the boards of directors of many nonprofits from the NAACP to the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center and has received many awards for her community involvement.

John Mann (‘84) — Mann, a posthumous inductee, provided the vision and leadership for the revival of the West End Community Center. Mann also served as board president of Lift for Life Academy and Gym from 2005-2010. Joining the Lift for Life board in 2002, he led efforts to grow the acclaimed urban charter school from a middle school with grades sixth through eighth, serving 280 students, to a high school, serving 580 students. He also served as a member of Leadership St. Louis and was named to the St. Louis Business Journal's 40 Under 40 when he was just 28.

Robert Nathan (‘66) — Nathan is an award-winning television writer-producer, novelist, journalist and screenwriter with twenty-five years experience in the entertainment industry. He has been associated with several of television’s most celebrated series, including ER and all three of NBC’s Law & Order series. For his work on ER, Nathan received the industry’s coveted George Foster Peabody Award. For Law & Order, his episode “Manhood” holds the only Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in the 22-year history of the series and its sequels.

Charles M. Shaw (‘39) — Shaw, a posthumous inductee, was a captain in the US Army Air Corps. He was captured by the Germans in WWII and escaped eight times, which was the basis for the 1963 film The Great Escape. Shaw was also a renowned criminal defense attorney in Missouri and Illinois.

Harriet H. Spilker (‘54) — Spilker is an educator who spent most of her 25-year teaching career working for the . Throughout her career, Spilker taught at each of Clayton’s three elementary schools, headed up the District’s Literacy Committee and also spent a semester as Interim Assistant Superintendent. Currently, Spilker is the coordinator of Clayton and Ladue’s program, which is a literacy tutoring program for elementary students with 111 tutors serving over 150 students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. She is also the chair of the Clayton Connection Committee, which helps to build relationships between Clayton’s students and members of the surrounding community.