Mr. Aklilu Demessie first came to the United States from Ethiopia for a year as part of an American Field Service, AFS, student scholarship program from Menelik High in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while a senior in high school in the 1970s. After graduating from Oberlin High School in Ohio, he returned to Ethiopia to attend college. However, the university in Ethiopia was closed by the order of the then Ethiopian government, due to a huge students' movement. He then returned to the U.S. to attend college and completed his undergraduate and graduate work at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio and received his B.S in Structural Engineering (Civil Eng.) and M.S in Engineering Mechanics. Following graduation, he decided to stay and make his life in the U.S.

Demessie has always believed in giving back. For him, that means being personally invested in the community that had welcomed him as one of their own - by providing others with opportunities like the ones he received, as they assimilated to their new home, the USA.

Demessie retired from the United Technologies Aerospace Landing Systems in June 2018. After retiring he worked at Collins Aerospace as a consultant for three more years. He permanently retired in July 2021 from the aerospace business after 44 years all together. He is one of the founders and the current president of the Society of Ethiopians established in the diaspora, SEED. (www.ethioseed.org). SEED is one of the oldest and highly respected organizations in the Ethiopian community, spanning over three decades. In the last over three decades, he has served as a board member and Vice President of the Menelik Foundation in Cleveland, a role through which he helped establish a Sister Cities agreement between Cleveland and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

He was instrumental in enlisting Ethiopia, the only and first African nation, to participate in the International Children's Games in Cleveland for the first time in 2004. He is also a member of the Board (now Vice President) of the International Community Council and Worldwide International Network (ICC-WIN) of Cleveland, in which 121 countries are represented since 1993. Demessie has served as President of the Northeast Ohio Ethiopian Community Association (NEOECA) and President of the Ethiopian Cleveland Connection (ECC).

Demessie joined DISATU EYES foundation as a co-founder with his best friend, Dr. Shiferaw G/ Mariam in 2016. DISATU EYES Foundation seeks to help young Ethiopian girls harness their God-given talents, reach their full potential, and succeed in life. Under the foundation 162 girls are provided educational support, of which 25 are sponsored by Mr. Demessie. Please visit www. eyes. foundation for detail.

"I've been civic/community-minded for as long as I can remember," Demessie said. "To the extent that I can contribute in a positive way, I want to - I truly believe that our world is what we help to make it." "So many people are willing to help and get involved in the community, but don't know what to do," he added. "If you educate them about ways to get involved, you might be surprised by their level of interest and passion to make a difference."

Demessie brings his passion for community involvement to the workplace as well: he mentored those who are new to the organization he worked for, providing them with a sense of belonging and inclusion, and encourages others to find their own ways of giving back. He has also created opportunities for UTC Aerospace Systems to engage with its community by connecting the company with local organizations and leaders such as Reverend Otis Moss Jr. Over his many years at UTC Aerospace Systems, he has trained a number of young and new--engineering employees.:

Demessie has also mentored and advised aspiring high school and college engineering students alike, as well as co-ops working in his department, further sparking their interest in engineering. In addition, he coordinated a UTC Aerospace Systems Landing Gear computer drive to benefit the library at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He has helped send educational materials and medical supplies overseas to Addis Ababa University. And under the Menelik Foundation, he was part of the team under MHF that sent more than 150 sleeping cots (beds), blankets, and other materials to Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana in 2005.

"To me, inclusion is about leveling the playing field and giving real opportunities to all people," Demessie said. "Inclusion brings about more creativity and different points of view - a new way of looking at things and doing things, which will mean greater success for all in the long run."

On July 4, 2015, Demessie and eight other friends established an Ethiopian AFSR, (American Field Service Returnees) group. Currently, Demessie plans to work with the with the state department to restart the student exchange program between the U.S. and Ethiopia, which was discontinued during the socialist government takeover in Ethiopia. He plans to try to pursue this initiative in the near future.

Achievements, Contributions and Recognitions:

• Recipient of Highest Honors: Aklilu Demessie has been honored with the highest medal of recognition from the Ethiopian Crown Council and has been knighted as the Grand Cross Star of Ethiopia (GCSE), earning him the esteemed titles of Sir or His Excellency (HE) for outstanding community services over five decades.
• Service Recognition: Demessie's dedication to the Society of Ethiopians Established in the Diaspora (SEED) is further exemplified by his 25-years tenure as secretary and now president, for which he received a plaque in acknowledgment of his invaluable service in 2009. He is the current president of SEED, a 32 year old organization. He is one of the five original founders of the organization.
• Cultural Preservation and Promotion: As a design committee member, Demessie played a pivotal role in the creation of the First Ethiopian Cultural Gardens in Cleveland, Ohio outside of Ethiopia. This landmark project celebrates the diversity of Ethiopia's eighty-six official ethnic groups, fostering cultural preservation and understanding. Demessie has also served as a board member for two years at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens' Federation. Demessie positively promotes Ohio where he has been a resident since 1972.
• Global Leadership: Demessie's leadership extends beyond SEED as a founding member and current Vice President of ICC-WIN, a longstanding organization representing 121 countries in Cleveland, Ohio. His efforts have facilitated intercultural understanding among the different immigrant communities.
• Establishment of Sister Cities: Demessie's commitment to fostering global connections is evident in his role in establishing Sister Cities partnerships between Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, and Cleveland, Ohio. These initiatives promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between communities.
• Humanitarian Efforts: Demessie's compassion extends to humanitarian endeavors, including facilitating financial assistance from Black churches in Cleveland, Ohio, to alleviate hunger in Ethiopia. Additionally, he has coordinated the donation of essential resources, including computers, books, and medical supplies, to institutions in Ethiopia, demonstrating his commitment to improving access to education and healthcare. In 1984 has arranged a team visit for Rev Dr. Charles Bowie to witness the Ethiopians Hunger first hand.
• During his tenure as the board member of Ethiopian-Cleveland Connection, Demessie sent 40 computers to Addis Ababa University that were donated to him by the company he worked for.
• Mr. Aklilu is a member of the St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Cleveland and serves as elderly advisory board member and bylaws committee.
• In 2004 Mr. Demessie traveled to Ethiopia to invite young athletes to participate in Global Children's Olympics in Cleveland, Ohio, making Ethiopia to be the first African country to participate in the event. The two high school athletes from Bahir Dar now reside in the USA.

Mr. Aklilu has been married to Zufan L. Demessie, RN, for over 47 years and has two successful adult children, Dr. Menna Demessie, Ph.D. and Mr. Nebyat Aklilu Demessie, MHA.

Aklilu was inducted by his daughter Dr. Menna Demessie, Ph.D.

Here is a video of his induction folowed by some images from Aklilu Demessie's induction..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlcx5vaC37I

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Congratulations Aklilu Demessie!

Back to the 2026 Inductions page

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Honorable Frank G. Jackson served as the 56th Mayor of the City of Cleveland. He served four full terms from 2006 to 2022 making him the longest-serving mayor in Cleveland history.

Mayor Jackson grew up in Cleveland's Central and Kinsman neighborhoods. After graduating from Max S. Hayes High School, he served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. After his discharge, Jackson attended Cuyahoga Community College where he earned an associate degree. He later attended Cleveland State University (CSU), earning a bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and History, a master's degree in Urban Affairs from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, and a Juris Doctor from the Cleveland State University College of Law.

He passed the Ohio bar exam and started his legal career as an assistant city prosecutor. In 1989, Jackson won a seat on the Cleveland City Council for Ward 5. As Councilman, Jackson spearheaded efforts to bring in approximately a half billion dollars of community investments, working to clean up and stabilize his ward. Jackson's progress in Ward 5 aided his election to Council President in 2001.

On January 2, 2006, Jackson was sworn in as Cleveland's 56th mayor at East Technical High School. In his inaugural address, Jackson vowed to make Cleveland a city where we are "one people, one community, living and working together, with respect, justice and equality." He promised improvements in the city's school system and better relations with Cleveland's neighboring suburbs.

He was instrumental in opening the City Hall Rotunda to people celebrating their diverse ethnic heritages resulting in annual Italian Heritage Day, Lebanon Day, Hispanic Heritage events, Black History Month, Asian Pacific heritage and so on.

He was part of celebrations for the Polish, Jewish, Chinese, Rusyn, Armenian, Irish, Albanian, Liberian, Serbian, Slovenian, Ethiopian, Puerto Rican, Russian, Hungarian and many more communities.

He solidified and grew Cleveland's Sister City relationships with places such as Rouen, France and Fier, Albania.

Mayor Jackson was inducted by Albert Ratner and presented by Valarie J. McCall (Mr. Ratner could not attend so Valarie included his remarks with hers)

Watch the video of the speeches.

https://youtu.be/diVkkJkn0sY

Congratulations Mayor Jackson

Back to the 2025 Cleveland International Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

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Dr. Eugene Jordan was many things in his life which ended, sadly, in 2020 at the age of 83.  He served the communities of Cleveland and East Cleveland by providing quality, professional dental services to those who couldn’t afford care. Dr. Jordan was well-respected and served as the 69^th president of the National Dental Association

He and his siblings were raised in Columbus by their widower father who was a maintenance worker for the City of Columbus.  He attended the Ohio State University and graduated from Capital University in Columbus with an undergraduate degree in biology.

After a stint with the Army Medical Corps, he worked his way through Howard University Dental School leading to his dental practice.

But his contributions to the community go far beyond his dental services.  He was also a beloved civil and human rights activist and Black History historian. 

Dr. Jordan was a loyal and lifelong member of the NAACP where he served 20 years on the executive board of the Cleveland chapter.  He worked with the NAACP and helped establish Juneteenth and Black History celebrations in Northeast Ohio.

He was vice president of the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland and led the activist group the Underground Railroad.  He marched in the Cleveland Umoja Parades. He was a mainstay at the annual Black History Month Flag Raising ceremony at Cleveland City Hall where he spoke about the ancestors who brought him to that point and the young people who would take the next steps.

When very few people outside of Texas and Oklahoma had ever heard of Juneteenth, Dr. Jordan (along with Khalid Samad, Carl Ewing and a few others) told the story and pushed for its celebration.  Now Juenteenth is a federal holiday.

Dr. Jordan is survived by his second wife, Bernice Jordan,  three grown children, Dr. Joy Jordan of East Cleveland and Dr. Martin Jordan of Cleveland, both of them dentists like their father, Dr. Michael Jordan of Phoenix, Arizona, a psychiatrist, and three grandchildren, Mica, Mariah, and Michael Eugene Jordan.

Dr. Eugene Jordan loved the people of his community and brought them tangible (dentistry) and intangible (education, pride) services.  Rest in Peace Dr. Jordan.

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The April 23, 2024 induction event at Windows on the River was a sell out with 500 people in attendance.

Dr. Jordan was inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame by Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. who is an American pastor, theologian, speaker, author, and activist. Moss is well known for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and his friendship with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Martin Luther King Sr. He was regional director of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, leading several campaigns to fight various forms of discrimination and segregation. He also participated in the Selma, Alabama civil rights march with King, whom he became close friends with. In 1975 he became pastor of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, which was then the largest black church in the state of Ohio. He led the church for 33 years before retiring in 2008. He was inducted himself into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

Here is the video of entire Cleveland International Hall of Fame ceremony. You can jump to about 1:10:10 to watch Dr. Jordan being inducted by Rev Moss Jr. and his children accepting the award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P34omi5XUiY

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Enjoy these images of Dr. Jordan's family and friends from the Cleveland International Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Congratulations Dr. Jordan and Rest in Peace!

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Carl Robson, M.D.

Carl Robson was raised in Hinsdale, Illinois. He attended College of Wooster, Ohio, then Case-Western Reserve Medical School. He interned at Parkland Hospital in Dallas TX and then spent 2 years in U.S.Public Health Service, Indian Health:  Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation in Belcourt, NorthDakota.

Carl did his Internal Medicine Residency at Cleveland MetroHealth, then worked in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, an under-served, inner-city area of Cleveland, spending the next 5 generations there (50 years) in the practice of Family Medicine – mostly private practice.  This was followed by working for NEON (Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services) when government made solo private practice  financially untenable. He moved into this neighborhood in the 1980’s and is still living there, though he retired from medical practice in November, 2020.

Carl says the practice was very rewarding and meaningful to the patients (and doctor), to have the same doctor for so many years.

Carl was recruited reluctantly on an Ethiopian tour in 1982 by his  Mom and became fascinated with the country. This led to an abiding involvement ever since.

Carl married Ethiopian R.N. Senait Shiferaw, who continuously does meaningful, targeted projects of need for Ethiopians.  

Carl formed the non-profit Menelik Hall Foundation Inc. in 1987 for student assistance and Ethiopian projects in general. The Foundation held many cultural/historical programs over the years.  Over 50 student and immigrant sponsorships, medical projects and book shipments. He helped establish and maintain an on-going sister-city connection with Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Carl was instrumental in the establishment of the first Cleveland Cultrual Garden of an African country.  He helped with the construction of the Ethiopian Cultural Garden Mosaic Wall which was designed by renowned Ethiopian artist Zerihun Yetmgeta. Carl says that none of this was possible without the teamwork of their strong, dedicated Executive Committee.

Many best know Dr. Robson as the owner of Empress Taytu Ethiopian Restaurant at 6125 St. Clair Ave. in Cleveland where he has worked to bring Ethiopian food and culture to the public.

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Dr. Carl Robson inducted on June 7, 2022

Watch the video of Carl Robson being inducted into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame by Aklilu Demessie.

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Congratulations Carl!

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Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE

Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE

In his five years as the President and CEO of MetroHealth, the public health system in Cleveland, Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE, has galvanized political leaders, entrepreneurs and the public around supporting community-wide health care many had taken for granted.

With his unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality health care to everyone in Cuyahoga County, Akram Boutros has achieved what many thought was impossible. Under his leadership, The MetroHealth System went to market on its own credit in 2017 and sold $946 million in bonds to rebuild its hospital, revitalize its main campus and resurrect its West Side neighborhood.

That is just one piece of the unprecedented transformation of Cuyahoga County’s public health care system Dr. Boutros has piloted since he arrived at MetroHealth in 2013.

In the five years since, he has created an Integrated Delivery System that provides care at more than 20 community health centers, four emergency departments, four clinics in Discount Drug Mart stores, five MetroExpressCare locations and nine pharmacies. Those are in addition to MetroHealth’s main-campus hospital, which is home to the area’s most experienced Level I Adult Trauma Center, a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center, the only adult and pediatric burn center in the state and Ohio’s only Ebola Treatment Center.

Now a more than $1 billion operation, MetroHealth and its caregivers treat patients at more than 1.4 million visits a year.

In the past five years, The MetroHealth System has also created more than 1,300 additional jobs, sent doctors into a dozen Cleveland schools and constructed an $82 million addition to its Critical Care Pavilion. Annual operating revenues have grown from $783 million in 2012 to $1.13 billion in 2017. And last year, MetroHealth returned $231 million – 21.3 percent of its operating expenses – to Cuyahoga County in free care and community benefit programs. That is 2.3 times the national average.

An internist with a 25-year record of successful hospital leadership at academic medical centers, community hospitals and specialty hospitals, Dr. Boutros cultivates personal relationships throughout the hospital system and the community along with an atmosphere of personal excellence for everyone he works with.

A graduate of St. John’s University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, he has led organizations through strategic repositioning, operational redesign, clinical and physician integration and population-health and risk-contracting programs. He sees collaboration with other health systems, organizations and local residents as a key driver in fulfilling MetroHealth’s mission of leading the way to a healthier community.

His community service includes chairing the American Heart Association 2015 Cleveland  Heart Ball, the most successful in the city’s history, and serving on the boards of:

• America’s Essential Hospitals
• American Hospital Association Section for Metro Hospitals Governing Council
• Cleveland Ballet
• Cuyahoga Community College Foundation
• Global Center for Health Innovation
• Greater Cleveland Food Bank
• Greater Cleveland Partnership
• The MetroHealth Foundation
• Select Assurance Captive
• Unify Project
• United Way of Greater Cleveland
• Vizient

Some of his recent awards include being named:

• Recipient of the 2018 George V. Voinovich Municipal Service Award from The Cuyahoga County Mayors & City Managers Association
• Recipient of the 2018 Richard H. Adler Community Leadership Award from the American Jewish Committee Cleveland
• Recipient of the Stokes Leadership Award
• The American Red Cross 2016 Community Leader
• One of the “183 Nonprofit Hospital and Health System CEOs to Know in 2017” by Becker’s Hospital Review
• EY 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year for Community Impact in Northeast Ohio
• A 2015 nominee for Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare
• One of Northeast Ohio’s Power 150 by Crain’s Cleveland Business
• Inside Business Magazine’s Power 100 list

Dr. Boutros was inducted by Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish

Click on the white arrow to watch the video as Master of Ceremonies Chris Tanaka, news anchor of Channel 19, introduced Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish who inducted Akram Boutros MD, the President and CEO of MetroHealth, the public health system in Cleveland, into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. 

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