GRANITE CITY – Granite City High School congratulates four graduates who are entering the GCHS Wall of Fame Class of 2024.
Thomas Miner Jr. (Class of 1990), James V. Rooney (Class of 1996), Cory L. Simpson, Md, PhD (Class of 1999) and Sharon (Koesterer) Van Meter, W.M.C.S. (Class of 1975 North) will be honored on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 during induction ceremonies in the GCHS atrium. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6 p.m., followed by the induction ceremony at 7 p.m.
To reserve a table of eight seats for $200, please email GCHS Wall of Fame Chair Daren DePew: depewdaren1@gmail.com
Thomas Miner Jr. – Class of 1990
Thomas Miner Jr. is a former Colonel in the United States Air Force (USAF), a position he held until his retirement in 2020. While in the USAF he served as the commander of five organizations. He had the honor and privilege of leading the air forces’ premier global airborne contingency response unit, nuclear security for the nation’s largest bomber wing, and protection for Joint Base Langley-Eustis and NASA, Virginia.
In 2016 as a Commanding Colonel, he was honored to lead Intelligence, Law Enforcement, Anti-Terrorism, Security, and Logistics for Joint Base San Antonio, the largest military installation in the Department of Defense, while also serving as the Garrison Commander for Joint Base San Antonio’s – Randolph Air Force Base.
Before his retirement, Colonel Miner was the Chief of Security Forces, Anti-Terrorism, and Force Protection for Air Education and Training Command responsible for protecting the people, assets, and missions of 12 major military installations. Memorable assignments Col. Miner experienced in his earlier career include serving two years as a foreign exchange officer in one of the United Kingdom’s special operations squadrons, three combat tours in Iraq, and later serving as the senior law enforcement advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq, and critical infrastructure advisor to Iraq’s Minister of Interior.
James V. Rooney – Class of 1996
Detective James V. Rooney has embarked on a life-long journey of service that includes a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps and an 18-year career in law enforcement with New York Police Department. His current assignment is with the Criminal Enterprise Investigations Section, where he is a Task Force Officer, assigned with the NYPD’s federal partners.
Shortly after completing the School of Infantry in 1996, Rooney was selected to join the United States Marine Corps honor guard located at the Marines Oldest Post (1801), Marine Barracks 8th & I, Washington D.C. He was ordered to report to A Company, 2nd platoon, where Rooney trained and participated in multiple events, parades and ceremonies within the Washington Capital Region.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal and was hand selected to join the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, traveling throughout the United States, Canada, Cuba and Europe performing this unique drill, representing all 175,000 Marines.
In late 1999, Corporal Rooney was selected by his Commanding Officer to represent the United States Marine Corps at The White House. He was assigned to one of this nation’s most prestigious military post, The White House Military Office, West Wing sentry. Corporal Rooney served honorably under two Presidents, President William J. Clinton and George W. Bush. Upon completion of his White House assignment, he earned the (PSB) Presidential Service Badge. In 2001, Corporal Rooney completed his military service.
After completing his military service, Rooney returned to the Midwest to attend college. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he was once again called to serve. In June of 2006, Rooney entered the NYPD police academy. Police Officer Rooney’s first assignment was the 44th precinct located in the Highbridge neighborhood of the South Bronx.
Rooney was transferred to the elite Organized Crime Control Bureau in 2012, where he was assigned to the Gang Division, Manhattan North. He was recognized for his hard work and dedication and was awarded one of the most coveted shields in policing, the NYPD Detective, gold shield.
Rooney has also spent time in the Office of Crime Control Strategies, Chief of Detectives staff, and later to the NYPD Commissioners office. He was promoted to Detective 2nd grade and then to one of the most respected ranks in the NYPD, Detective, 1st grade.
Cory L. Simpson, MD, PHD – Class of 1999
Cory L. Simpson, MD, PhD is a board-certified dermatologist, physician-scientist, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Washington.
After graduating from GCHS in 1999 as co-valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar, Dr. Simpson earned his bachelor’s summa cum laude as a Goldwater Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish. In 2003, he joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he earned his M.D. and a PhD in Cell Biology supported by a Presidential Fellowship. His thesis focused on understanding how skin cells stick together and how they fall apart to cause life-threatening skin blistering diseases. This work led him to pursue dermatology training.
In 2013, Dr. Simpson moved to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for dermatology residency and served as Chief Resident. Since finishing clinical training, he obtained multiple grants from private foundations and the National Institutes of Health to support his research applying cutting-edge techniques in gene editing and microscopic imaging to a model of human skin grown in his lab.
In 2021, he was recruited to the University of Washington in Seattle, where he runs a specialty clinic for skin blistering diseases and built a lab focused on understanding these rare disorders. His research and publications were recently recognized with a Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation and a Rising Star Award from the World Congress on Rare Skin Diseases in Paris.
Beyond research, Dr. Simpson was honored for volunteerism by the American Academy of Dermatology with a Presidential Citation and Patient Care Hero Award. Leveraging his medical Spanish, he has organized clinical outreach to both urban immigrant populations and rural communities in Guatemala including via telemedicine to provide specialist advice to doctors in under-served areas across the globe.
Sharon (Koesterer) Van Meter, W.M.C.S. – Class of 1975 (North)
A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Chef Sharon (Koesterer) Van Meter, W.M.C.S. brings more than 40 years of award-winning and acclaimed culinary experience to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Chef Van Meter has served the culinary world as Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, International, Professor of American Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu and Executive Chef in the renowned kitchens of Neiman Marcus, Dallas, Texas. She is CEO of SVM Productions, LLC, a leader in the television, radio and culinary productions world. Currently, Chef Van Meter is co-owner of NOSA Restaurant and Inn in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico.
Chef Van Meter has been inducted in the honorable culinary societies of the American Culinary Federation, World Master Chefs Society, Les Dames d’Escoffier International, and Euro-Toques International. She was inducted into the Texas Restaurant Association prestigious Hall of Honor on July 14 of this year.
Chef Van Meter has served as President of the Dallas Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier and 1st Vice President, Les Dames d’Escoffier International. In 2009, Chef Van Meter became the first female Director of the American Culinary Federation-Texas Chefs Association.
She is a member of the National Restaurant Association and has been on the Board of Directors of the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association since 2010; served as President of the GDRA Board of Directors in 2015-2016. Sharon serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Restaurant Association and is current past chairwoman of the Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation.
Her numerous volunteer and humanitarian efforts range from the fight against hunger by involvement with Share Our Strength’s “Taste of the Nation” event to the National AIDS Foundation “Touring Chefs” program to Habitat for Humanity’s “House Party.” Sharon served on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move! to the Schools task force. In 2008, she received the National Restaurant Association’s “Cornerstone Humanitarian Award.”
With the addition of the Class of 2024, the Granite City High School Wall of Fame boasts 44 honorees. The Wall of Fame plaques are located in the hallway near the atrium at GCHS.
The Granite City High School Wall of Fame’s mission is to honor graduates of GCHS who have gone on to excel in their chosen careers and who have made significant contributions both nationally and internationally in military, public service, law, medicine, engineering, business or the arts. The individuals selected will have demonstrated character, leadership, inventiveness, creativity, and any other traits worthy of respect and admiration.
For more information on the GCHS Wall of Fame, please visit the Granite City Alumni Association website: www.granitecityalumni.org.
