Fifth Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

The Salem Community High School Academic Foundation held the fifth Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Salem Community High School cafeteria on Saturday, April 9, 2022. The honorees were selected by the Academic Foundation committee based on leadership and character and by having made exceptional contributions to the honor and prestige of SCHS. Members selected for induction are: Martha McMackin Garland Davis, Mason Jett, MD. , Dr. Martha Heck Stiehl, Rita Nanda, MD. , Mr. CJ Holthaus, Dr. Charles Munter, and "Tommie" Clara Belle Harrington-Adams.

Martha McMackin Garland Davis, Ph.D

Class of  1960

Martha McMackin Garland Davis graduated from Salem Community High School in 1960 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, a master’s degree at Cornell University, and in 1971 she went to Ohio State University to complete her Ph.D. and begin her career as history professor.

Dr. Martha McMackin Garland Davis research interests focused on the social and intellectual history of modern Britain. She published one book, Cambridge before Darwin: The Ideal of a Liberal Education, and a number of articles mainly about religion in Victorian England. 
While at the Ohio State University. Dr. Martha McMackin Garland Davis was named Associate Dean for Instruction and Curriculum in the College of Humanities, later as Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Undergraduate Education for the whole University, and briefly as Vice President for Student Life. 

Dr. Martha McMackin Garland Davis credits her love of learning and the belief in the profound importance of educating young people be attributed, at least in part, to the excellent start she received at Salem Community High School.  Long-gone heroes like Mr. Kile, Mr. Deason, Miss Brandes, Miss Jones, and Mr. Autenreith helped her and so many others see the value of a life of learning, and she will always be deeply grateful.

Mason Jett, MD

Class of  1965

Mason P. Jett, MD (Smokey) graduated from SCHS in 1965.  At DePauw
University, he was a pre-medical science major and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.  Mason graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1973 and completed 2 years of surgical training with research in microbiology while there. He finished his surgical residency at the University of Oklahoma in 1978 and established a private practice in Oklahoma City.  He performed general surgery and specialized care in burns and non-healing wounds for 35 years.

Mason always stepped up to help when his services were needed. He was visiting his family in Odin and Salem when the Tonti Train accident occurred in 1971.  A medical student at the time, he volunteered to sew up lacerations at the Salem Hospital.  In 1995, he was 6 blocks from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building when it was bombed in downtown Oklahoma City. He again tended to the injured.

Mason is married to his high school sweetheart, Barbara, and they recently celebrated their 51st anniversary.  They have two daughters, Sharon and Betsy, and two grandsons, Coulter and Landon.

Dr. Martha (Heck) Stiehl

Class of  1968

Martha Heck graduated from SCHS in 1968.  Dr. Martha Heck Stiehl is a
professional harpsichordist and organist, specializing in music of the Baroque.  She was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Music from Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Martha studied with world renowned artists in Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam.  Martha has been a featured soloist as well as continuous member of orchestras and ensembles throughout the USA and Europe.  The New York Times reviewed her performance of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos as “an utter joy.” She is a former faculty member at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was founder and director of the all-women Baroque ensemble, The Bach Babes.   She credits Salem music educators Gene Stiman, Norman (Poss) Hanes Jr., and Charlotte Holt for giving her the strong foundation toward her success.

Rita Nanda, MD

Class of  1989

Rita Nanda graduated from SCHS in 1989.  Rita Nanda, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology at The University of Chicago. Dr. Nanda earned her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her Medical Degree from The University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. She subsequently completed her Residency in Internal Medicine and her Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at The University of Chicago.

Dr. Nanda’s research interests include identifying novel treatments for the management of breast cancer, particularly triple-negative disease. Dr. Nanda has authored more than 100 scientific publications and book chapters, including the first report of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Nanda is recognized as an international expert in breast cancer research and treatment.

Dr. Nanda’s research has been funded by The NIH, The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, The Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She was awarded the 2014 NCI Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award, and currently serves as the co-PI for the University of Chicago Interdisciplinary Cancer Health Disparities SPORE.

Mr. CJ Holthaus

Class of  1989

C.J. Holthaus graduated from SCHS in 1989.  C.J. Holthaus is an engineering executive at Centaur Technology in Austin, Texas.  In 1996, he joined Centaur Technology with the goal to make affordable Intel/x86-compatible microprocessors.  He has been involved in many engineering and business roles at Centaur Technology and its Taipei-based parent company VIA Technologies.  Using Centaur Technology’s designs, VIA Technologies sold over 30 million microprocessors to many PC companies including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung.  Most recently, he is the System-on-Chip architect for Centaur’s industry first
integration of an AI co-processor with an x86 processor.  He is the co-inventor of several microprocessor patents.

Prior to joining Centaur Technology, he worked at Dell Computer Corp.  He has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Charles Munter

Class of  1993

Charles Munter has been recognized for his contributions to the field of
mathematics education. After earning a bachelor’s degree at Graceland
University in 1997, he began his career as a high school mathematics teacher, first in rural Missouri and then in Memphis City Schools, completing an M.Ed. at Central Methodist University along the way. He then left the high school setting to complete a Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University, after which he held faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh and then the University of Missouri.

With his research and published scholarship he has contributed to the field’s understanding of mathematics pedagogy, teacher learning and instructional vision, and issues of racial equity in mathematics education. At the time of induction, he resides in Columbia, MO, with his spouse, Claire Syler, and their two children.

“Tommie” Clara Belle Harrington-Adams

Class of  1939

Clara Belle Thomas graduated from SCHS in 1939.  She obtained her nursing degree at Missouri Baptist Nursing School in St. Louis, MO. Her classmates at Missouri Baptist nicknamed her "Tommie" because she hated the name Clara Belle due to the Disney character named Clara Bell the Cow.   Tommie enlisted as an Army nurse during WWII.  She served for a short time stateside before being transferred to an Army field hospital in Belgium.  Upon war’s end, she worked in a doctor's office in California.  She reenlisted into the Army Air Corps (later the Air Force) and served as a base nurse at Edwards AFB where she began a training program to become a flight nurse. After graduating from flight nurse training, she was transferred to Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Texas.  She served in the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) as a Medical Air Evac flight nurse.   In 1969, she moved back to Salem and began a private career in the medical field working at Twin Willows and Doctors Nursing Home.  She finished her career as the Director of Nursing on Givens Wing, a cancer care wing, at St. Mary's Hospital.

Captain Adams was a veteran of WWII (stateside and Belgium), the Korean Conflict (stateside), and the Cold War. She served in the Army, the Army Air Corps, and the Air Force. She was given military rites at her funeral and has a military headstone.