Seven distinguished graduates of Miami-Dade’s public schools have been inducted into Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Alumni Hall of Fame for their post-secondary and professional achievements. With the addition of this year’s inductees, the number of Alumni Hall of Fame members rises to 46.
Joining the Alumni Hall of Fame and representing the Class of 2022 are the following:
- Rodney Adkins — Miami Jackson Senior High, Class of 1976 Valedictorian. Chairman of Avnet, Inc. and President of 3RAM Group. First African American corporate officer and senior vice president of development and manufacturing at IBM. Launched the IBM ThinkPad.
- Michelle Bernstein — North Miami Senior High, Class of 1986. Award-winning James Beard Foundation chef. Host of television shows Check, Please! South Florida and the Emmy Award–winning production SoFlo Taste.
- Dr. Vivek Murthy — Miami Palmetto Senior High, Class of 1994 Valedictorian. Graduate of Harvard University and Yale School of Medicine. 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General of the United States, Founder of Doctors for America.
- George Christian Pedersen — South Dade Senior High, Class of 1958. CEO and president of Kimre Clean Air Technology. Earned chemical engineering degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Armando Christian Perez — Miami Coral Park Senior High, Class of 1999. American rapper better known as “Pitbull” or “Mr. Worldwide.” Singer, songwriter and record producer. GRAMMY Award winner with over 100 million records sold worldwide.
- Maribel Perez Wadsworth — Coral Gables Senior High, Class of 1990. Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing company’s first-ever chief strategy officer. President of USA Today Network and publisher of USA Today and the 2019 News Leader Association winner of Robert G. McGruder Award for Leadership Diversity.
- Dr. Robert Sackstein — Southwest Miami Senior High, Class of 1973. World-renowned bone marrow transplant physician and biomedical researcher. Graduate and professor of Harvard Medical School. Serves as senior vice president for global medical affairs and professor of translational medicine at FIU.