Hall of Fame 1999 Inductees

Skip Bertman graduated from Beach High in 1956, later serving as head baseball coach for 11 seasons. During that time, Beach High won a state championship and was state runner-up twice and Bertman was named Florida High School Coach of the Year three times. He then went on to work as associate head coach at the University of Miami for eight seasons (1976–1983) under Ron Fraser. During this time, the Hurricanes won the national championship in 1982.

Then, he was hired by athletic director Bob Brodhead to coach LSU in 1984, and he transformed LSU into a baseball powerhouse, guiding the Tigers to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 College World Series appearances, seven Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships, and five NCAA baseball national championships in 18 seasons. LSU won its first two College World Series titles in 1991 and 1993, each time defeating Wichita State in the championship game. In 1996, LSU defeated Bertman's alma mater Miami for its third national title. Its fourth title came in 1997 with a 13–6 victory over Alabama in an all-SEC championship final. LSU defeated Stanford in the 2000 championship game for Bertman's fifth and final CWS title.

While at LSU, Bertman was honored as the Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year five times, Baseball America Coach of the Year twice, and the SEC Coach of the Year seven times, including four straight from 1990 to 1993. Bertman's teams also drew large crowds to LSU's Alex Box Stadium, as the Tigers led the nation in collegiate baseball attendance in each of his final six seasons (1996–2001).

Bertman also served as an assistant coach for the United States national baseball team which finished in first place at the 1988 Summer Olympics, where baseball was a demonstration sport. He then served as head coach of the national team in 1995 and 1996, which captured the bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics by defeating Nicaragua, 10–3.

--Bio from Wikipedia

Luciano Pavarotti. Plácido Domingo. José Carreras. Mikhail Baryshnikov. Zubin Mehta. Beverly Sills. The greatest names in the world of classical music played South Florida and they played here in great part because of one woman. A dynamo named Judy Drucker.

Judy Nelson Drucker was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928 and moved to Miami Beach in 1941. Drucker established the Great Artists Series at Temple Beth Sholom under Rabbi Leon Kronish's guidance in 1967. Drucker was inspired musically by her mother, Lillian Nelson, a Metropolitan Opera singer, pianist, and teacher. As a child musical prodigy, Drucker studied piano at the New York College of Music and voice at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. She sang coloratura soprano with the Coral Gables Philharmonic Symphony, and performed on Broadway in New York City and with the Greater Miami Opera. Drucker's Great Artists Series was so successful that in the 1980s, she expanded the cultural series and formed the award-winning Concert Association of Florida (CAF).

At the helm of CAF, she garnered international attention as a presenter of the world's greatest classical music orchestras, conductors, soloists, opera stars, and ballet and dance companies. Judy Nelson Drucker's many accolades include two honorary degrees: a Doctorate of Fine Arts from the International Fine Arts College and a Doctorate of Music from Florida International University. Her motto: "I need culture to live."

Drucker, who died in 2020 in Miami at age 91 of complications from Alzheimer's, devoted more than half a century to her aptly named Great Artists Series.

--Bio from NYTimes and MiamiHerald

Roy Firestone (born December 8, 1953) is an American sports commentator and journalist. Firestone is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and the University of Miami.

Firestone began his career as a sports anchor and reporter in Miami, working briefly at WTVJ, before moving to Los Angeles as a sports anchor for KNXT/KCBS-TV from 1977 to 1985. He was also the host of HDNet's Face to Face with Roy Firestone and AOL's Time Out with Roy Firestone.

He appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, Larry King Live, Super Dave Osborne and Nightline. He has also performed for numerous corporate clients including Anheuser Busch, Chevron, Nike, Whirlpool and Toyota. Firestone currently appears as a guest regularly on Good Day L.A. which airs on KTTV in Los Angeles covering local and national sports.

Firestone also provided the voice of the classic cartoon character Egghead in the 1988 Warner Bros. compilation film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, and appeared in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. He starred in a Married... with Children episode and presented the Al Bundy Sport Spectacular. Firestone also made an appearance as himself in a 1997 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, the "Bart Star" episode of The Simpsons and The White League, episode of In Living Color.

From 1980 to 1994, he was the host of ESPN's interview program SportsLook, later renamed Up Close. He also served as a color commentator for the network's first season of Sunday Night Football telecasts in 1987. He is a seven-time Emmy Award winner, seven-time Cable ACE Award recipient, and In 1991 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

--Bio from Wikipedia

Born in 1944 in New York City, New York, Gold attended Miami Beach High School. Gold received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida in 1966, a Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law in 1969, and a Master of Laws from the University of Miami School of Law in 1974.

Gold served as a research assistant to Judge Charles Carroll of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal from 1969-1970. He was briefly in private practice in Miami in 1970, before serving as assistant county attorney in the Dade County Attorney's Office from 1971 to 1975.

President Bill Clinton nominated Gold to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on February 12, 1997, to the seat vacated by Jose Alejandro Gonzalez, Jr. During Gold's confirmation hearings before the Senate, he surprised many when, after being asked which Supreme Court decision troubled him most, he named Griswold v. Connecticut. Confirmed by the Senate on June 27, 1997, Gold received his commission on July 1, 1997. He assumed senior status on January 10, 2011.

In an era when federal judges are faced with a pressing workload, highly politicized issues, and declining federal resources, Southern District of Florida Judge Alan S. Gold shines as an example of a jurist who insists on excellence and impartiality.

--Bio from Wikipedia

Steven Green is an American businessman and Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Singapore in Miami, Florida. He was the United States Ambassador to Singapore from 1997 to 2001.

From 1988 to 1996, Green was Chairman and CEO of Samsonite Corporation. He was also Chairman and CEO of Astrum International from 1990 to 1995. During this time, Astrum operated Samsonite as a subsidiary as well as Culligan Water. Both Samsonite and Culligan were spun off as separate publicly owned companies in 1995.

As chairman of Astrum, Green directed the company's expansion into emerging markets in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East. In 1992, he was Chairman and CEO when the company opened the first American retailing store in Red Square, Moscow. President Clinton appointed Green to the President's Export Council in 1995.

On November 18, 1997, Green was sworn in as United States Ambassador to Singapore, a position that he would hold until March 1, 2001. A political appointee of President Bill Clinton, he stayed on as Ambassador during the early days of the administration of President George W. Bush. Green spearheaded a number of strategic programs that bilateral relations economic development, intellectual property, immigration and national security. He directly led the effort to start bilateral negotiations which culminated in the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

In 2002, Green was appointed Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Miami. The Honorary Consulate General in Miami refers consular and visa applications to the Singaporean embassy in Washington. Green is currently Managing Director, Greenstreet Partners, a private merchant bank. Previously he was chairman and CEO of Greenstreet Partners, Auburndale Properties, and the CEENIS Property Fund.

Jay W. Jensen was a legendary South Florida drama teacher. In a career which spanned over 5 decades, the Miami Beach High School drama instructor known as "The Teacher of The Stars," was an inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands of people. Jensen was born in Irvington, New Jersey. An only child, as a youth he developed a love of film and drama. In 1950, his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida where he earned an Associate of Arts degree from St. Petersburg Community College.

Then Jay moved to Miami where he graduated from the University of Miami with a BA in Education. Jay left Florida to briefly live in Havana, Cuba. Upon his return to Miami in 1954, he began teaching at Little River Junior High School. In 1957, after teaching for three years, Jay decided to "go to Hollywood and get discovered." In California, Jensen traveled to Los Angeles for an interview with movie producer Joe Pasternak. However, Pasternak told Jensen he was leaving the motion picture business, and Jay's dreams of a movie career were dashed. However, while in Hollywood, Jay worked as actress Carroll Baker's dance partner, and befriended actors Jim Backus and Bela Lugosi. After a failed interview with DesiLu Productions, Jay Jensen decided to return to Florida.

In 1959, Jay was rehired by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and began his 32 year career as a drama teacher at Miami Beach Senior High School. However, Jay didn't give up on his acting career. He acted in the South Florida produced "B" film, "Rehearsal For Sin," and had a few uncredited extra roles in such movies as Racing Fever (1964). Jay went on to earn a Master of Education Degree in Administration, Curriculum and Drama Education from the University of Miami.

He directed over 300 hundred plays and musicals. His high school productions of the plays Hair, Viet Rock, and Gypsy, where both ground breaking and controversial for the times. Among his numerous students were movie actors Andy Garcia (The Godfather Part III (1990)), Mickey Rourke (Year of the Dragon (1985)) and Neal Gold (The Warriors (1979)), actress Annabelle Gurwitch (Dinner & a Movie (1996)), movie directors Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) and Sara Sackner (Class Act (2006)), rapper Luther "Luke" Campbell, sportscaster Roy Firestone, executive producer Heather Winters (Super Size Me (2004)), music composer Desmond Child, casting director Debra Zane (Dreamgirls (2006)), musician and record producer David Chesky, artist Romero Britto, and kick-boxer 'Sherman 'Big Train' Bergman'. Jay also worked with supermodel Nicol Taylor and coached Jennifer Fox in Gypsy. Jensen was a long-time friend of award winning writer Tennessee Williams, actor Hurd Hatfield and actress Carol Baker. In 2001, Jensen was the casting director for the Mexican production of, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly."

Jensen received numerous awards during his life. He served as a regional director for the National Thespian Society, he hosted conferences before the Florida State Thespian Festival, and was also a Carbonell voter in South Florida. He was one of South Florida's leading community philanthropists. Jay donated over 4 million dollars to such institutes as the University of Miami's Theater Arts Department, the School of Education, the Lowe Art Museum, the Ring Theater, and the Peterson Schools in Mexico. In the 2006, Jay W. Jensen returned to the silver screen in the movie, Class Act (2006). Class Act (2006) was an awarded winning film about Jensen's inspirational teaching career, and his devotion to the arts. In July 2006, Jensen discovered he had prostate cancer. Though seriously ill, Jensen continued to work. However, his illness quickly progressed; after a valiant battle, he passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2007 in Coral Gables, Florida.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Sherman A. Bergman

Gerald Kogan, a native Brooklynite, arrived at Miami Beach High School in 1947. He was active in student activities, V.P. of Student Council, and member of the Varsity Debate team.

He entered the University of Miami in 1950, receiving his BBA and J.D. in five years. His proudest achievements were winning the National Intercollegiate Debate Championship, being elected as a charter member to the Southern Debate Hall of fame, and winning the Southern Law School Moot Court Championship. He was active in Student government holding many leadership positions including V.P. of the Student Government and President of the Student Senate. He was selected for membership in Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges. He served as Chief of Iron Arrow, the Highest Honorary at the U of Miami.

After Law School, he entered the U.S. Army qualifying for the Army Intelligence School and graduated as a special agent in Counter intelligence. Upon returning to civilian life, he served as an Assistant State attorney and chief of Homicide and Capital Crimes Division. He returned to private practice of Law as a Defense Attorney defending news worthy criminal cases in Trial. In 1980 he was appointed to the Circuit Court Bench heading up the Criminal Division.

He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in 1987 serving over 12 years as Justice and Chief Justice. He retired from the Supreme Court in 1999 to continue practicing in Miami and served as President of the Alliance for Ethical Government in Dade County.

During his long legal career he received numerous awards from organizations such as ACLU, The Florida Bar, American Bar Association, and the Ethics commission of Dade County FL, The National Criminal Defense Assoc. and received an honorary Dr. of Laws Degree from St. Thomas Univ. Law School. He has been a commencement speaker at various Law Schools including Fla. State, U of Florida, Nova University, Univ. of Miami, St. Thomas Univ. and Cooley Law school in Michigan. He has lectured and taught at eleven Law schools in the U.S. and at Cambridge University, United Kingdom. He is National Co-Chair of the Constitution Projects Death Penalty Committee to prevent wrongful executions. He has testified before numerous State Legislatures and congressional committees to change their death penalty laws.

Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan died in Miami on Thursday, March 4, 2021.

With more than 50 years of service to the South Florida community, Sol was a member of The Greatest Generation. While stationed in England as a member of the United States Army Air Corps, he met the love of his life, Muriel, of blessed memory, with whom he remained married for 67 years.

Sol received his Bachelor's, Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Education on the GI bill. Sol taught and served as principal at Nautilus Junior High School, Ada Merritt Junior High, and Ida M. Fisher Junior High in Miami Beach, where he pioneered the first community school program in Miami Beach, and it became the largest such program in the state of Florida.

Dr. Lichter was named principal of Miami Beach Senior High, where he served with distinction from 1966-1977. He lead Beach High during the "glory years," assembling a staff and promoting programs which would bring the school repeated national recognition. He hired the best teachers he could find, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation, which at the time presented significant barriers to otherwise qualified teachers. He established the community school at Beach High, pioneered the 7 period day and helped create the gateway from Beach High for the High School in Israel program. Dr. Lichter's intense school spirit earned him the nickname "Dr. Dynamite" from his constant use of the phrase "Beach is Dynamite." His other favorite phrase was "We're From Beach And We Couldn't Be Prouder". He lived and breathed Beach High, and the clinic at the school bears his name.

Dr. Lichter received numerous awards over the years including, among others, Outstanding Teacher of the Year for Miami Beach, the George Washington National Educator's Award from the Freedom Foundation, the Felix McCool American Legion Award, the B'nai Brith Outstanding Citizens Award, the Phi Delta Kappa (Education Honors Society) Service Award, and numerous awards from the City of Miami Beach and keys to the City of Miami Beach, honoring his contributions to the school and the community at large.

Sol and Muriel, were very active members at Temple Beth Sholom for over 60 years. Dr. Lichter served as a teacher and principal at the religious school, Chairman of its school board and as an officer and member of the Temple's Board of Directors. Together Sol and Muriel established the Mazon program at the Temple, which fed thousands of homeless and less fortunate in Miami Beach. Sol was the past President and board member of the Stanley Meyers Community Health Center, which delivered health care to the less fortunate throughout Miami Beach and he initiated and coordinated the efforts of the Health Centers Consortium to better serve child health care in Miami Beach and insure all children were immunized for school.

Dr. Lichter also served as Chairman of the Dade County School Board Advisory Committee on Dropouts, the Chairman of the Advisory Council for Students at Risk, Chairman of the Miami Beach Feeder Council, and was an active participant on the Dade County Community Schools Foundation, the Miami Beach Children's Bureau, the Central Agency for Jewish Education ("CAJE"), the Mt. Sinai Medical Center Board of Trustees, and the Dade County Library Board.

Dr. Lichter passed away in 2014 at the age of 92.

--Bio from his Obituary

When the Great Depression in the 1930s was at its worst, a determined, petite woman in her twenties arrived at Miami Beach High School, armed with her college degree in English Education. Our school is fortunate to have an unusual amount of excellent teachers. However, when I ask our alumni Hall of Fame members, "Who influenced you the most at Beach High?" no other teacher can come close to the total number of times Miss Roberts' name comes up; lauded in glowing terms for her dynamic teaching skills. They tell me in specific detail that the habits she taught are imprinted in their minds for the rest of their lives.

Over her long career, Roberts taught other subjects related to English, such as Shakespeare and literature. One HOF member had Miss Roberts for business law too. She made a difference in thousands of lives, not only by what they learned from her, but by their memories and stories about her. If not lucky enough to get into a class taught by Miss Roberts, some teens sensed a void when they realized they had missed a defining part of the Miami Beach High School experience.

After retiring, Miss Roberts moved to Tallahassee to be closer to her niece and two great nephews. She was selected into our alumni association's first Hall of Fame in 1999 but was not able to travel back home for the awards ceremony and luncheon. She passed away the next year, at 92.

--bio taken from the book by Rosalind Merritt (HOF 2019) Miami Beach High! Journey Among Decades of Fame

Robert Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former government official. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992.

Rubin is credited as a major force behind Clinton-era economic prosperity, including the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

Rubin was born on August 29, 1938, in New York. He moved to Miami Beach, Florida, at an early age and graduated from Miami Beach High School. In 1960, Rubin graduated with an A.B. summa cum laude in economics from Harvard College. He then attended Harvard Law School for three days before leaving to see the world. He later attended the London School of Economics and received an LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1964. Rubin was an attorney at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City from 1964 to 1966 before joining Goldman Sachs in 1966 as an associate in the risk arbitrage department. He later ran their stock and bond trading departments and became co-chairman in 1990.

Clinton nominated Rubin as Treasury secretary in December 1994. On January 10, 1995, Rubin was sworn in as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury after the U.S. Senate confirmed him in a 99-0 vote. Rubin's tenure with the Clinton administration, especially as the head of Treasury, was marked by economic prosperity in the U.S. Rubin is credited as one of the main individuals behind U.S. economic growth, creating near full-employment and bullish stock markets while avoiding inflation. From the time he joined the White House until he announced his resignation from Treasury in 1999, U.S. unemployment fell from 6.9 percent to 4.3 percent; the U.S. budget went from a $255 billion deficit to a $70 billion surplus, and inflation fell.

In 2001, Rubin received an honorary doctoral degree from Harvard University, and on July 1, 2002, he became a member of Harvard Corporation, the executive governing board of Harvard University. He served as a member of the Harvard Corporation board until June 2014 and continues to serve on its finance committee.

Rubin has written a memoir, In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington co-written by Jacob Weisberg. It was a New York Times bestseller as well as one of Business Week's ten best business books of 2003.

Rubin had been suggested as a possible appointee to a cabinet post for President Barack Obama. Rubin, alongside Austan Goolsbee and Paul Volcker, was one of Obama's economic advisers.

In January 2014, Secretary Rubin joined former Senator Olympia Snowe, former Education Secretary Donna Shalala, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Henry Cisneros, Gregory Page the Chair of Cargill, and Al Sommer, the Dean Emeritus of the Bloomberg School of Public Health as members of the U.S. Climate Risk Committee. They oversaw the development of an analysis of the economic risks of climate change in the United States that was published on June 24, 2014. As of 2020, Rubin is actively engaged as a founder of The Hamilton Project, an economic policy think tank that produces research and proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. He is co-chairman emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rubin also serves as chairman of the board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a community development support organization. He serves as a trustee of Mount Sinai Health System.

--Bio from Wikipedia

Daniel Taradash was born in Kentucky and raised in Chicago and Miami Beach. He attended Harvard University, where he met his future producing partner Jules Blaustein. He graduated with a law degree and passed the New York State bar. But when his play The Mercy won the 1938 Bureau of New Plays contest (the two previous winners were Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams), a career in theater was launched. He moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a scripter. His first assignment was as one of four credited writers on the screen version of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy (1939).

His theater career was interrupted when, during World War II, Taradash served in the U.S. Army and eventually underwent training in the Signal Corps Officer Candidate program. He was assigned to the Signal Corps Photo Center and worked as a writer and producer of training films.

After the war, Taradash attempted to find success on Broadway with an American version of Jean-Paul Sartre's Red Gloves, but the show folded quickly and he returned to Hollywood. He had more success as the co-writer (with John Monks Jr) of the Humphrey Bogart vehicle Knock on Any Door (1949). The Fritz Lang Western Rancho Notorious and the psychodrama Don't Bother to Knock (both 1952). Performers included Marlene Dietrich and Arthur Kennedy in the former, Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe in the latter. His adaptation of James Jones' massive novel From Here to Eternity (1953) starring Burt Lancaster was a big success and earned Taradash an Oscar. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann. His subsequent film work was generally in adaptations, including Desiree (1954), about Napoleon and Joséphine, Picnic (1955), from the William Inge play, and Bell, Book and Candle (1958), from John Van Druten's stage comedy.

In the mid-1950s, Taradash and Jules Blaustein formed Phoenix Corporation. He also tried his hand at directing with Storm Center (1956) starring Bette Davis as a librarian fighting censorship and book banning. Taradash and Zinnemann had planned to make two films from James Michener's massive novel Hawaii but were unable to raise the financing. (When George Roy Hill did make the film in 1965, he utilized Taradash's script with emendations by Dalton Trumbo.) By the 1970s, Taradash's efforts produced his final two scripts for the soap operas Doctors' Wives (1971) and The Other Side of Midnight (1977).

Taradash won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama for From Here to Eternity, and received a WGA nomination for Picnic.

Taradash served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1970 to 1973. He was AMPAS's 20th president. In 1972 he introduced Charlie Chaplin at Chaplin's legendary appearance at the 44th Academy Awards and presented him with an honorary award.

In 2003, Taradash died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles at age 90.

--Bio from Wikipedia

A graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, Weiss had been a partner of Meyer, Weiss, Rose, and Atkin since 1935.

Weiss helped organize the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce in 1935 and was a member of the Civic League and Pioneer Association of Miami Beach. From 1940 to 1953, Weiss was a member of the Dade County School Board, and chairman from 1947-49.

He was campaign chairman for the Combined Jewish Appeal for Dade County from 1967-68 and president of the Greater Jewish Federation from 1969-71. His civic activities brought him the Silver Medallion from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the United Jewish Appeal Award for philanthropy.

Weiss spent 15 years as president of Financial Federal and a member of it's Board of Directors.

Milton Weiss, Miami lawyer and civic leader died in 1980.

--bio from his obituary