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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The Very Rev. Fr. Mikhail Edward Mikhail

The Very Rev. Fr. Mikhail Edward Mikhail, D. Min. was born in Cairo, Egypt on August 2, 1949. From an early age, he was active in church life, and was fortunate to have several mentors who clearly influenced his life and guided him to a love for his church and its service. These mentors would all play a role in guiding him to enter the Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary in Cairo where he would come under the patronage and guidance of his most influential mentor, H. H. Pope Shenouda III, who was Bishop of Christian Education and Dean of the Seminary.

He excelled in his studies and in his ministry, building friendships with faculty and students that would last a lifetime. Upon his graduation in 1972, he was assigned as deacon to one of Cairo’s many churches and later sent to New York to be the first deacon to serve in the United States. In the spring of 1974, he married Seham Samuel and on August 23, 1974, was ordained to the priesthood by his teacher and mentor, H.H. Pope Shenouda III at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo.

On April 30, 1975, Fr. Mikhail and his wife Seham, who was six months pregnant with their first child, arrived in Cleveland to begin his new ministry as the first resident pastor of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church. In addition, Fr. Mikhail would be given pastoral responsibilities over the smaller Coptic communities in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo and Youngstown in the State of Ohio, as well as in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. All these communities would in due time receive their own resident priests, all due to the care and ministry of Fr. Mikhail.

In 1981 he was elevated to the rank of Archpriest by Pope Shenouda. In 1984 he received a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care and Counseling and in 1986, a Doctorate in Ministry from Ashland Theological Seminary. He was instrumental in establishing the first Coptic Theological Seminaries in America in 1989, where he served as dean and professor of New Testament and Pastoral Theology. He is a prolific preacher and writer, having written many books, including Focus on the Coptic Family, St. Mary – the Mother of God, The Greatest Acquaintance Party, 1000 Answers to 100 Questions , A Journey With the Church Fathers Through Lent, Passion Week and Commentaries on the Book of Revelation.

Under his pastoral care, the Coptic Orthodox Community in North East Ohio has grown from 50 families in 1975 to over 600 in 2016, with two parishes serving their pastoral and spiritual needs.

Fr. Mikhail and his wife Seham are the proud parents of two attorneys; Bishoy (Executive Director of International Development at Cleveland Clinic) and Sherrie Mikhail Miday (attorney at Manley Deas Kochalski and candidate for Common Pleas Court, Cuyahoga County). Together have five grandchildren, three from Sherrie and her husband, Ryan: Athanasius, Mikhaila, Helena; and twin boys from Bishoy and his wife Susan: Theodore and Samuel.

Fr. Mikhail Edward Mikhail was inducted into the 2016 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame on the evening of April 26, 2016. Over 500 people attended the induction ceremony at the Marriott at Key Center. Fr. Mikhail Edward Mikhail was inducted by Seven Hills Mayor Richard Dell’Aquila.

In the video below, Cleveland International Hall of Fame co-founder Dan Hanson introduced Seven Hills Mayor Richard Dell’Aquila.

Here is a video of Seven Hills Mayor Richard Dell’Aquila inducting Fr. Mikhail Mikhail into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.

Here is the video of Fr. Mikhail Mikhail giving his acceptance remarks after induction into the 2016 class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.

Cleveland International Hall of Fame MC Dan Hanson from ClevelandPeople.Com read part of a proclamation from the Egyptian Embassy in Washington DC. Then members of his parish sang a song in tribute to Fr. Mikhail.

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Congratulations Fr. Mikhail Edward Mikhail!

See more photos of attendees at the 2106 Cleveland International Hall of Fame inductions

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