10 Inducted Into Heights High Alumni Hall of Fame

For the past 32 years, the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame has inducted more than 300 alumni who have made significant achievements in their careers.

A Heights High student committee selects the inductees from a list of nominees from the general public with only their accomplishments listed, not their names. 

The ceremony to honor this year's inductees was May 3 at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. Those recognized include graduates from 1938 and 1999. 

The 2012 Cleveland Heights High School Distinguished Alumni are:

• Robert Gaede, FAIA, 1938 graduate, pioneered architectural preservation, opened his own design firm and helped establish the Cleveland Restoration Society.
• Harold Mendes, 1945 graduate, founder of Salazar International, which imports and exports automotive parts, lumber and logs. He has served as vice president of the Heights High Alumni Foundation and president of the Alumni Association. He also endows the Mendes Scholarship Fund for Heights students with his wife, Barbara.
• Lois Klein Goodman, 1951 graduate, recognized as one of the "100 Most Influential Cleveland Women" by Cleveland Magazine. Goodman created and operated a Kaiser Permanente childcare center, which was recognized as one of the 40 best employer-sponsored centers in the country by the U.S. Department of Labor.
• William Halal, Ph.D., 1951 graduate, professor emeritus of management, technology and innovation at George Washington University. During his career, he has worked with General Motors, AT&T, SAIC, MCI and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, just to name a few.
• Susan Koppelman, Ph.D., 1958 graduate, author of 10 anthologies, including Between Mothers and Daughters and The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe. The Susan Koppelman award, named in her honor, recognizes feminist writing in the fields of Popular and American culture.
• Philip Yosowitz, MD, 1959 graduate, surgeon who specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He also wrote and composed The Gold, a musical about a boxer whose aspirations of competing in The Olympics are shattered by the Nazis, and how he builds himself back up. 
• Mark Lurie, MD, 1962 graduate, cardiologist and director of the Melanie and Richard Lundquist Cardiovascular Institute at the Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Lurie was named in the U.S. News & World Reports "Best Doctors" list.
• Pamela Anne Miller, 1973 graduate, arctic program director for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. Miller has devoted much of her career to preserving and protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Brent E. Routman, JD, 1974 graduate, partner at Merchant & Gould. Routman established the Amicus Society: Advocates for Justice, which supports the need for more financing for the courts, public defenders and civil legal services. 
• Alisa Weilerstein, 1999 graduate, cellist who has performed with many orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. Weilerstein was invited to perform at The White House and was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.

More information about the inductees and biographies can be found on the Heights Alumni website.