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Class of 2014 / Biographies

Zanesville City Schools \ ZCS Hall of Fame \ Class of 2014 / Biographies

Jeffrey Apperson

Jeff graduated from Zanesville High School in 1972 and was a member of the tennis, swimming and sophomore football teams. He went to High Point University and upon graduation received the outstanding Senior Award. He graduated from Samford University Law School and was a member of the Alabama Bar Association and United States Supreme Court Bar. He also received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force.

As a career court management professional, Jeff is dedicated to the effective administration of justice nationally and internationally. His goal is to enhance the ability of citizens worldwide to find access to forums that would protect the vulnerable, resolve disputes with dignity and fairness, and facilitate equal protection under the law.

Jeff served as an attorney advisor to the U.S. Courts, Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy and District Courts for the Western District of Kentucky for 27 years. He also served as Chief of the Court Management for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal. Since January 2011, he served as Vice President for International Relations of the National Center for State Courts where he oversees the management of United States rule of law projects for Bangladesh, Iraq, Serbia, South Africa and other various countries. He has traveled to over 60 countries, including the International Court of Justice in The Hague, giving speeches on rule of law topics. Jeff was one of five U.S. monitors of the 2012 presidential election in Mexico. He assessed the criminal justice system of Mexico and worked closely to implement historic criminal justice reforms. He has also served as President of the Federal Court Clerks Association and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Clerks. He co-founded and served as President and CEO of the International Association for Court Administration overseeing nine international conferences dedicated to improving court management.

In addition to his professional duties, Jeff served as president of Wayside Christian Mission, the largest homeless shelter in Louisville for five years. He has also been active in Kiwanis Audubon Chapter of Louisville and the Big Brother, Big Sister Chapter of High Point University.

Presenter: John Meeks

Rolland Buxton

Buck graduated from Zanesville Lash High School in 1924. Influenced by the 1914 death of his father, he was a grocer/butcher from 1918 to 1926. That same year he entered The College of Wooster, majoring in history and graduating in 1930.

He served Zanesville High School from 1930-1961 as Teacher, Assistant Athletic Coach, Faculty Manager, Dean of Boys and Principal. Early in his teaching career, he attended the University of Wisconsin for one summer and then finished his M.A. in Education at The Ohio State University in 1947. As a teacher he was known for helping students in seeing relationships more than memorizing dates and facts. Year in year out, as the Assistant Athletic Coach, his players were well prepared to be productive varsity players. In 1934, in the absence of the ill Athletic Coach, the varsity basketball team under his leadership won the Eastern District Tournament and represented the school and community at the State Tournament in Columbus. During his time as Faculty Manager, he planned the dedication of the Zanesville Municipal Stadium on September 20, 1940. In the winter of 1941, he began nineteen years as the Class B Basketball Tournament Manager in the new Zanesville Municipal Auditorium. As Dean of Boys, he emphasized good school attendance, behavior and loyalty to family, school and community. He was at his best when talking with students and faculty. As Principal, he championed improved reading for all students by offering a reading laboratory. How to study and take tests became part of the morning announcements.

Buck was the “good shepherd” for all, a visionary, optimist, planner, organizer, and motivator for many. He loved Zanesville and was loved in return for who he was and what he did.

March 1906 - February 1961

Presenter: David R. Buxton
Acceptor: Jan McDonald

Mike Kaido

Mike graduated from Zanesville High School in 1981. While there, he starred in both basketball and baseball. He was a two-year captain of the basketball team and earned several honors including District Player of the Year, two-time All-COL first team Player of the Year, special mention All-Ohio his junior year and first team All-Ohio his senior year. Mike also played in the North-South All-Star game. He still holds the school record for most points in a single game (41). In baseball, he earned an All-District and All-COL selection. In addition to his athletic achievements at ZHS, Mike was a National Honor Society student and President of his class.

While at Ashland University, Mike was a four-year letterman and three-year captain in varsity basketball. He started every game of his college career and stands fifth on the all-time scoring list at Ashland with 1,556 points. He was named to the All-Conference, All-Academic team during his junior and senior years. He also started at third base for the Ashland baseball team during his freshman season and was inducted into the Ashland University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. Mike graduated from Ashland in 1985 with a degree in Business Administration.

Mike has coached in many youth programs in the community including youth basketball, baseball, soccer and golf. He coached for Zanesville City Schools serving as girls basketball and soccer coach in Zanesville Middle Schools and as ZHS boys basketball Varsity Assistant. He is also a past President of the ZHS Golf Boosters.

Mike began his professional golf career in 1992 and oversaw the construction, opening and operations of Longaberger Golf Club from 1996 to 2008. Since 2010, he has served as General Manager at Zanesville Country Club. He has qualified for and competed in the PGA Professional National Championship in 2007, 2008, and 2011. He was inducted into the Zanesville District Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

Mike has a daughter, Claire, and a son, Matthew, both graduates of The Ohio State University.

Presenter: Mike Bennett

Dr. Alicia Kaye Matthews

Alicia “Kaye” Matthews is an Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. degree in Psychology from Muskingum University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She completed a two-year postdoctoral training fellowship funded by the National Cancer Institute at UIC. Prior to her current position, she was an Assistant Professor and Director of the Psychosocial Oncology Program at the University of Chicago. She has served as a tenured faculty member at UIC since 2007.

Dr. Matthews is nationally and internationally known for her health disparities research with underserved populations primarily focused on the development and evaluation of culturally targeted cancer risk reduction interventions. She has served as the Principal Investigator of five federally funded research projects. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and five book chapters stemming from her research on cancer prevention and control. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator of a National Institute of Health funded study to conduct a randomized clinical trial of a smoking cessation intervention.

Dr. Matthews’ teaching expertise is in qualitative and quantitative research methods, and behavioral intervention approaches. She has lectured across the United States and globally, including Africa, Australia and Japan. Recent awards for her research, teaching and commitment to social justice include the Muskingum University Dominic Costanzo Award in Psychology (2012), the Research Mentor of the Year Award from the Hispanic Center of Excellence in Medicine at UIC (2012), and The Helen K. Grace Diversity Scholar awarded from the College of Nursing at UIC (2013). In March of 2014, she received the “Healthy Chicago Award” for her tobacco cessation research that resulted in the Chicago City Council adopting an ordinance to prohibit the sale of mentholated tobacco products within 500 feet of schools. The ordinance is unprecedented; no jurisdiction had ever included menthol in the laws that regulate flavored tobacco. This is significant because African American and Latino youth are disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry with advertisement for mentholated tobacco products, increasing the likelihood of early tobacco use and addiction.

Kaye lives in Chicago and spends time raising her twin sons and playing West African music with a percussion group, Diamana Diya, which in Malinke means “make beautiful music for the land.”

Presenter: Wayne Clark

Robert Rankin

Bob Rankin graduated from Zanesville High School in 1946. He is, by consensus of the good golfers in this area who remember him, the best golfer to ever come out of Zanesville. His record of 11 country club championships in 17 years has never been surpassed. He defeated his father, a former champion, in 1946 for the Zanesville Country Club Championship. He and his father, “Pete” Rankin, to this day are the only father-son champions.

Bob married the former Linda Hall (ZHS class of 1954). They moved to Florida in 1962 and established Rankin and Rankin Insurance in Clearwater, Florida. They had three beautiful daughters, a blonde, a brunette and a redhead – Deborah, Judith and Cynthia. They have six grandchildren, four boys and two girls.

While in Florida, his golf success continued. He won the Florida Amateur Championship and later won the Florida State Senior Championship three times. Those championships were under the auspices of the United States Golf Association. He also won the United States Golf Senior Challenge in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1993. In 1992, U.S. Senior Challenge Association named him “Man of the Year.”

Bob has been inducted into the Florida State Golf Hall of Fame and the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame. In Zanesville, Bob won the district amateur over a field of 170. He defeated high school sophomore Jack Nicklaus in a 36-hole match. The two would meet again in 1955, when Rankin won the Ohio Amateur Tournament. There was no defending champion in as much as the 1953 and 1954 champion had turned professional – a gentleman by the name of Arnold Palmer. Among Bob’s many golf accomplishments, he won the Florida State Amateur in 1969, qualified for the national amateur in 1955 and won numerous tournaments in Florida and Ohio.

Bob made his mark at Zanesville High School in football, basketball and golf. Later, he was a great husband, father, businessman and gentleman.

Presenter: Jack Rutherford

Acceptor: Linda Rankin

Todd Rollins

Todd Rollins was born and raised in Zanesville, and graduated from Zanesville High School in 1982. He excelled in both football and baseball, and graduated as one of the school’s most prolific quarterbacks.

In two seasons, he amassed over 3,000 total yards passing and rushing and accounted for 30 touchdowns. In his senior year at ZHS, he earned All-COL and All-Ohio honors and was recognized as the Eastern District Back of the Year. He was also a three-year starter at shortstop for the Blue Devils baseball team where he was All-COL and batted .408 with 8 home runs his senior year.

Todd continued his football career at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he walked on and became a two year starting quarterback for the Redskins. While at Miami, he accounted for over 2,500 total career yards and 17 touchdowns. He was featured in Sports Illustrated’s 1984 College Football Pre-Season Edition.

After graduating from Miami in 1986 with a Business Degree, Todd started his professional career with Chrysler Motors. He then worked for industry leading companies Worthington Industries and NVR before joining the Sumitomo Corporation’s North American steel service center organization, SteelSummit Holdings. In his current capacity as President and Chief Operating Officer of SteelSummit Holdings, he leads the 700 million dollar organization in its North American based business activities.

Todd resides in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife Dawn. They have three children: Alexandra, Zachary, and Christopher and his wife Lois.

Presenter: Ron Apperson

Don Seevers

Don Seevers graduated from Zanesville High School in 1972. While attending ZHS, he was a multi-sport letter winner. He competed in the state track meet in the long jump in his senior year. Don finished eighth in the state for long jump – not too bad considering track was not his best sport. Don was best known for his exploits within John D. Sulsberger Stadium and football stadiums around Ohio. He was a two-time All-Conference running back and was also named to the All-Ohio teams in 1970 and 1971.

One of the fondest memories for many football fans occurred during Don’s senior season opener when the Blue Devils beat Columbus Eastmoor, 7-6. The Columbus team had a pretty good running back named Archie Griffin. The two-time Heisman Trophy winner from The Ohio State University still to this day recounts the stories of Don Seevers from that game. Mr. Griffin likes to say, “The only guy that ever beat me was Don Seevers.”

By the time his football career at ZHS was over, Don held every imaginable school rushing record, including rushing yards for a single game, season and career, and rushing touchdowns in a single game, season and career. Each of those records would stand from 1972 until finally being surpassed in 1988. Don went on to represent the best high school football players in the Ohio North-South All-Star game.

Don Seevers has owned and operated Don Seevers Handyman Service for the past 25 years and re-located his business to Zanesville in 2000. He is a strong and loyal supporter of all Zanesville High School Athletics and an active member of the ZHS Quarterback Club and the Zanesville Tip-Off Club.

He and his wife, Mickey, reside in Nashport. Don has a son, Todd, and a daughter, Tiffany and a stepson, Brady, along with two granddaughters, Faylinn and Ireland.

Presenter: Steve Galloway

Dr. Ruth Friedeman Stein

After graduating from Zanesville High School in 1961, Ruth won a Shinnick Scholarship and went to The Ohio State University where she majored in English and German, earning both a B.A. and an M.A. in English.

She married her first husband, Don Federman, in 1967, and they then moved to Syracuse, New York. She started her teaching career in the Syracuse City School District as an English teacher at Corcoran High School. In 1983, she was elected Commissioner of Education for Syracuse and served on the school board until 1991, including two years as board president. In 1989, she started working on her Ph.D. in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation at Syracuse University and completed the degree in 1995.

Ruth held a number of different positions at Syracuse University: Project Advance consultant, part-time instructor in the Writing Program, teaching consultant, and interim director of the newly established Academic Integrity Office. She is co-author of two books, Using Student Teams in the Classroom: A Faculty Guide, and, Building and Sustaining Learning Communities: The Syracuse University Experience, as well as author of a number of articles. After retiring from Syracuse University, she started teaching as an adjunct professor at LeMoyne College in Syracuse.

In her spare time, Ruth has been active in the Syracuse Jewish community, serving two years as president of Congregation Beth Sholom Chevra Shas, president of Sisterhood, on the board of the Syracuse Hebrew Day School, and is incoming Chair of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Central New York. She plays tennis, gardens, hikes, and loves to travel. She and her husband Joel, whom she married in 1991, visited Israel this year and traveled around the country with family members from Israel, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, and the USA.

She and Joel are the proud parents of five adult children: Andy, Josh, Nate, Eric, and Caryn and six grandchildren. Ruth is the daughter of Gerda and the late Rabbi Simon Friedeman, who served as rabbi in Zanesville from 1954-1964. Her parents escaped from Germany in 1939-40.

Presenter: Sanford "Sandy" Phippen