Hall of Leaders - Alumni

Donna Claycomb Sokol is a graduate of Rock Bridge High School. Donna is the pastor of Mount Vernon Pace United Methodist Church in downtown Washington, DC. Since her appointment to the congregation in July 2005, the congregation has transitioned to a growing one composed of many young adults working to make a difference in the nation’s capital. She previously served as minister of congregational care at First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville, NC, and as director of admissions at Duke Divinity School. Prior to joining the ministry, she spent three years on Capitol Hill, serving on the staffs of U.S. Congressman Eric Fingerhut and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.

She earned her undergraduate degree from William Woods University, a master of divinity from Duke University and her doctor of ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Donna is the co-author of “A New Day in the City.” She serves as a member of the Duke Divinity School Board of Visitors and regularly speaks about leading change and congregational renewal.

Stephanie Price is a graduate of Fairview Elementary, Smithton, West Junior and Hickman High School. She is a board-certified child psychiatrist in Charleston, SC, where she works as an attending physician at the Medical University of South Carolina. She also works in private practice to treat those experiencing personal anguish.

She played varsity tennis at Hickman and was the first player to medal in each of her four years at the state tournament. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts, where she received a tennis scholarship and played #1 singles and #1 doubles for the team. She holds a doctor of osteopathic degree from the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and completed psychiatry residency training at Indiana University and a fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Stephanie is the recipient of many honors and accolades, and is dedicated to community involvement, including international service learning through medical mission trips.

Sally Cooper Myers attended Grant Elementary, West Boulevard Elementary, Jefferson Junior High and Hickman High School. Sally served as a Miami University faculty member and administrator for 30 years, as director of the Recreational Sports Facility and Office of Recreational Sports program. During her tenure, she served as the senior instructor in the Department of Physical Education for Women and coached the Gymnastics Club. She retired in 1997 with emeritus status.

She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, with a bachelor of science degree in physical education, and a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a master’s of science degree in education.

Sally is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Outstanding Miami Woman Faculty Member for outstanding undergraduate teaching, the Regional Award of Merit from the Intramural Sports Association, and the Outstanding Student Affairs Service Award.

Marcella Ng is a graduate of Jefferson Junior High and Hickman High School. She is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and was the nation’s first African-American woman airplane and helicopter pilot in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1979, at the age of 23. Her first assignment was in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was the first woman and the first African-American woman assigned to the unit. She was the 55^th woman to receive aviator’s wings in Ft. Rucker, AL, out of 48,000 total officer graduates through 1979 from the Army Aviator School.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a member of ROTC and served on the drill team.

Marcella and her husband, retired Col. Dennis Ng, own and operate Mililani Woods LLC, a special events and wedding venue. Her likeness can be found on a mural permanently displayed at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, Black Americans in Flight: A Tribute to African American Achievements in Aviation from 1917 to the Present.

George Galbreath is a Hickman High School graduate who currently serves as the art department chair at Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Throughout his 15 years of classroom teaching, including three years at Rock Bridge High School and 12 years with the Fulton County School District in Atlanta, he has maintained a career as a working artist. During his tenure as an art teacher at Rock Bridge High School, his passion for art allowed George to leave a lasting impact on many lives.

George received his bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from Howard University. He received a fellowship from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he completed his master’s of education in curriculum and instruction.

His work is regularly displayed in the Atlanta area, and he has received numerous awards for his creations. He was awarded Best in Show in 2015 and Honorable Mention in 2016 at the Georgia Art Educators Association exhibit. George also was a 2016 and 2018 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series semi-finalist. He is the co-founder of Urban Art Expression (UAE) Youth Artists Program, a non-profit dedicated to developing artistically talented youth outside of the classroom and beyond the academic school calendar.

Dan Knight is a graduate of Columbia Public Schools, having attended Fairview Elementary, Jefferson Junior and West Junior High Schools, and Hickman High School. Dan has served as the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney since 2007 and will begin serving his fourth term in 2019. In this role, he guides the prosecution of all criminal cases and has also personally prosecuted thousands of cases. He leads a staff of 41 employees, including 14 assistant prosecutors. Prior to his appointment as prosecuting attorney, Dan served as an assistant prosecuting attorney and as first assistant prosecuting attorney.

Dan received his undergraduate degree in business administration and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At MU, he was also a varsity tennis player during his undergraduate years.

Dan was recognized in 2012 by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys as the Prosecutor of the Year. He served as president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in 2014 and currently continues to serve on its board of directors. He is a member of the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri board of directors and has served on the boards of the Voluntary Action Center and the Central Missouri Humane Society.

Katie Mustard is a graduate of Hickman High School. Katie has joined the Netflix International Production Team as the head of physical production for feature films and television series from Europe, Middle East and Africa. She will be relocating to Amsterdam this fall with her husband and son. Katie’s passion for filmmaking can be seen with the many movies she has produced, including 38 movies, 20 short films, four feature length documentaries and dozens of commercials. She has produced multiple films for the Sundance International Film Festival, with her ninth film premiering there in 2014. Her first feature length documentary, American Shopper, was filmed in Columbia.

Katie attended film school at the University of Southern California, where she graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in cinema-television. She also is a graduate of the master’s in producing workshop in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she began collaborations with producers from around the world.

Katie is represented by the United Talent Agency. In 2015 she was named by the entertainment industry’s leading trade publication Variety as a Top 10 Producer of the Year and was honored as a cultural ambassador for U.S. embassies in third world countries as part of the American Film Showcase.

Susan Ford Robertson is a graduate of Hickman High School. She practices law in Kansas City at The Robertson Law Group, LLC, where she serves as appellate counsel assisting trial counsel across the nation in all phases of all complex civil litigation. She has over 160 published federal and state appeals. Susan is an elected fellow in the American Academy of Appellate lawyers, and she is the first and only female attorney from Missouri so elected. She also is an elected fellow of Litigation Counsel of America and is the only Missouri attorney to be serving on the Super Lawyers Advisory Board of Directors.

Susan received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a law degree, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She serves as vice chair of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. Susan is also past president of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners, past president of the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers, past chair of the Appellate Judicial Retention Committee and past member of the Missouri Supreme Court Advisory Committee.

Among her many honors, she is the recipient of the 2011 Women’s Justice Awards Litigation Practitioner of the Year, the Kansas City Legal Leader Civil Justice Award and the Missouri Bar President’s Award. For the past 10 years, she has consistently been named to the Top 100 Missouri Lawyers, Top 50 Kansas City Lawyers and the Top 50 Missouri and Kansas Women Lawyers by Super Lawyers.

Jeff Harris is a Columbia Public Schools graduate who has served in all three branches of Missouri government. Jeff was appointed to the 13^th Circuit Court in 2016 and elected later that same year. In his position as circuit judge, Jeff presides over civil and criminal cases. Prior to his appointment to the court, Jeff served as the policy director for Gov. Jay Nixon. Jeff also was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, serving Columbia’s 23^rd District, and served as both House Minority Leader and House Minority Whip. He was the first Boone Countian since the 19^th century to lead either party in the Missouri House. He previously was a Missouri Assistant Attorney General and worked in private practice for the international law firm Bryan Cave.

Jeff is a graduate of Cornell Law School, where he was a member of the Cornell Law Review. Jeff received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, magna cum laude, where he also played on the varsity golf team. He also completed the Senior Executive Program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Hickman High Super Kewp Award. Jeff is a graduate of Jefferson Junior High School and Hickman High School, where his first leadership role was as the sports editor for the Purple & Gold newspaper. He and his wife, Katie, also a CPS graduate, have two children enrolled at CPS.

Jon McRoberts is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri where, in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation, he coordinates a large-scale white-tailed deer research project in Missouri. Jon has conducted wildlife research on giant pandas in western China for the Smithsonian Institute, has radio-tracked leopards in the Kalahari Desert for South Africa’s Centre for Wildlife Management, and conducted a multi-year wildlife investigation on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula—where his seven years of CPS Spanish classes were invaluable.

Back in the office, Jon has been the lead author of multiple peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, has given invited wildlife research presentations throughout the U.S. and Mexico, is a contributing author to Cornell University’s Birds of North America and Birds of the Neotropics, and has served as a consultant to Mexico’s federal wildlife authority.

Jon earned a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Missouri-Columbia, as well as a master’s of science and doctorate in Wildlife Science and a MBA, all from Texas Tech University. Jon attended Russell Elementary and then was in the inaugural first grade class at Mill Creek Elementary. Jon saw his second school opening when he was in yet another inaugural class at Gentry Middle school, and then attended Jefferson Junior High and Rock Bridge High School, where he received the W. Wayne Walker Outstanding Graduating Senior Award. The diversity of experiences offered by CPS have served Jon throughout his life. For example, the Critters program, sponsored by CPSF, helped foster Jon’s early interest in wildlife.  Jon and his wife, Katrina, also a CPS graduate, reside in Columbia.