The Southwestern College Educators Hall of Fame and Scholars Hall of Fame will induct new members on Saturday, April 12, in the reference room of the Deets Library.  A reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. with the induction ceremony following at 4 p.m.

Entering the Educators Hall of Fame are Frank Davidson, John Marshall, and Ronda (Sims) Marshall.

The two inductees into the Scholars Hall of Fame are Marilyn Corbin and Everett Samuelson.

Following the ceremony, the Founders Day dinner will be held at 6 p.m. in the Roy L. Smith dining hall.  The dinner is by invitation only. 

New Educators Hall of Fame members include:

• Frank D. Davidson ’79 began his career in education serving in the Peace Corps at the Escuela Agropecuaria de San Juan Bautista, located in rural Paraguay. Following his Peace Corps service, he moved to Arizona in 1982.  For 11 years, he was an elementary school teacher and principal.  In 1993, he was appointed assistant superintendent for instruction for the Casa Grande Elementary school district, and he has been superintendent since 1997.  Davidson received awards as the Superintendent of the Year for Large School Districts (Arizona School Administrators, 2000), the Business Leader of the Year (Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce, 2003), and the state Superintendent of the Year (American Association of School Administrators, 2006).   His district has earned five “A+” awards from the Arizona Education Foundation.  Davidson has also co-authored two books and is active on several boards in Arizona.

• John W. Marshall ’70 considers himself lucky to have started his career as a principal in a school reputed to be the worst in the district. Hills (Iowa) Elementary School had seen the deaths of two principals but with strong staff leadership already in place, Marshall moved quickly to put new programs into place. These included the first functioning Family Resource Center in the state of Iowa; an early childhood preschool; and the first extended day kindergarten in the Iowa City schools.  During his tenure Hills won two FINE Awards (First In the Nation in Education) as well as a National Blue Ribbon Award School designation. Marshall was recognized in 1997 by the National Association of Elementary Principals for excellence in education, but is most proud that staff members he hired have gone on to be respected administrators in the Iowa City District and in other districts.

• Ronda J. (Sims) Marshall ’70 taught in the same Iowa City Community School (Northwest Junior High) for all but one year of her 39 years as a junior high language arts teacher. She describes her predominantly seventh grade students as “challenging but also eager to learn, volatile but also steady and loyal, scared but also willing to take risks, secretive and reserved but also honest and open.”  Marshall has also taught workshops for gifted students, and at the university level has lectured on reading methods for all secondary pre-service teachers.  Highlights of her career included chairing a year-long, in-depth NCA accreditation study; giving the faculty address at the school’s 25th anniversary community celebration; and working at Princeton as a national scorer for the initial round of National Board Certification portfolios in Early Adolescent English/Language Arts.  She was presented the Literacy Teacher of the Year Award by her peers in the Iowa Council of Teachers of English.  

Scholar Hall of Fame inductees include:

• Everett V. Samuelson ’48 oversaw a period of extensive growth as dean of the College of Education at the University of Idaho. During his 26-year tenure in this position (1963-1989), the college constructed its main College of Education building, buildings for industrial education and physical education, and the swim center. Among many programs he helped develop were a doctoral program in education and extensive international programs. Samuelson had been a principal and superintendent in Kansas schools following graduation from Southwestern, but moved on to become director of school accreditation for Kansas State Department of Education. After he earned his doctorate, he served in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, then became director of the Bureau of Educational Research at the University of Colorado before joining the Idaho faculty.

• Marilyn Brown Corbin ’70 has devoted over 40 years to extension education, leading community-based programs that address preventive health strategies developed with the latest university research.  She has been a faculty and administrator with Cooperative Extension at four land-grant universities—Texas A&M, Kansas State, North Carolina State, and Pennsylvania State.  Most recently she has been associate director, extension program leader for family and consumer sciences, and professor with Penn State Cooperative Extension at Pennsylvania State University. She provides statewide leadership to non-formal educational programs offered throughout Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, working closely with extension educators employed at county level. During her career she has received over $20.5 million in grants and contracts to implement award-winning educational programs for families, emphasizing nutrition, health, and family life education.

For more information about Founders Day weekend at Southwestern College, contact Susan Lowe, director of alumni programs at Southwestern, at (620) 229-6334.