2026 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

We are excited to announce the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, Ronald Autry (’03) and Dennis Kardon (’69). Learn more about each of these distinguished alums below and mark your calendars for Roosevelt’s annual awards night on Wednesday, April 29^th at 6 p.m. in the TRHS Auditorium where our honorees will give remarks to the Rider Community.

RONALD AUTRY

Ronald Autry, a member of the Roosevelt High School Class of 2003, is recognized for both his personal achievements and the lasting impact of his journey on others. His life reflects determination, community support, and the power of inclusion to create meaningful change.

Identified as autistic at a young age, Ronald grew up in the Des Moines Public Schools, where he received individualized support while actively participating in school life. At Roosevelt, he was a dedicated member of the band for all four years, traveling with the group to performances across the country. He also competed on the track team, where his perseverance and enthusiasm made him a valued teammate and a favorite among classmates and spectators.

During his high school years, Ronald formed strong and lasting relationships with peers and faculty—connections that continue to be an important part of his life today. His time at Roosevelt helped lay the foundation for both his independence and his deep sense of community.

After graduation, Ronald attended the PACE program at National Louis University in Evanston, Illinois. There, he developed essential life and workplace skills, gained confidence navigating new environments, and expanded his interests and social connections. His focus, curiosity, and commitment to growth stood out to those around him.

Ronald’s growth did more than shape his own future—it inspired broader change. Observing his experience, his family and community members began asking why similar opportunities were not available in Iowa. Those conversations led to collaboration with the Iowa Board of Regents and ultimately to the creation of the REACH program at the University of Iowa in 2010.

Now a four-year program, REACH provides students with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to build life skills and participate in college coursework alongside their peers. The program has graduated more than 230 students and continues to make a meaningful difference for individuals, families, and communities.

Today, Ronald lives independently, has been employed for 15 years in the office of Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald, and was recently married to his wife, Bailey Mathis (a fellow Roosevelt graduate). His story is a powerful example of how perseverance and inclusion can open doors—not only for one individual, but for many others who follow.

DENNIS KARDON

Dennis Kardon is a Brooklyn, New York based artist who graduated from Roosevelt in 1969. After graduation, Kardon attended Yale University where he earned a B.A. in Visual Arts. While there, he participated in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, as well as the Yale Norfolk School of Art Summer Program.

Kardon began exhibiting his work in the 1970s. His early black and white cut-paper pieces, shown at the Drawing Center (1980) and Barbara Toll Fine Art (1981), played with figure-ground relationships.

His woodblock prints were included in a 1983 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art called

Prints from Blocks: Gauguin to Now. Kardon's figurative paintings were first exhibited in 1983 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Nude, Naked, Stripped, organized by Dana Friis-Hansen. Kardon was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant in 1991.

49 Jewish Noses, Kardon's best-known piece, gained attention in the exhibition Too Jewish, Challenging Traditional Identities at the Jewish Museum in 1996. Organized by Norman Kleeblatt, the exhibition traveled to museums in the United States and abroad, including the Hammer Museum and museums in Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and Bruges. Kardon's subjects included artist Nan Goldin, gallerist Helene Winer, and the then-director of the Whitney Museum, David Ross, among other notable Jewish people.

In 1996, Kardon received the Milton Avery fellowship to the Yaddo artist colony, and in 1998 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Kardon's large psychological paintings of family life from the late 1990s onwards have been exhibited at the Mitchell Algus Gallery (New York) and reviewed in The New York Times and Art in America. His work is also included in the book Being Human: Lucian Freud, Ann Hamilton, Lillian Hsu-Flanders, Dennis Kardon, Sol LeWitt, Ana Mendieta, Laurie Simmons, Kiki Smith, from an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Kardon's own writing and art reviews have been featured in Hyperallergic, Art in America, artcritical, artnet and The Brooklyn Rail.

Kardon's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Fogg Art Museum, among many others. Dennis Kardon is represented by Massimo De Carlo gallery. Kardon currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He is married to Shelley Lewis, a television producer and executive. The couple have one daughter.