TRHS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2026 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES Ronald Autry and Dennis Kardon to be Honored April 29th at 6 p.m.

Des Moines, IA – The Theodore Roosevelt High School Foundation will induct two honorees into its Hall of Fame during an
awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. The event will be held in the Roosevelt Auditorium at 6 p.m. The 2026
honorees are Ronald Autry and Dennis Kardon.

Ronald Autry, a 2003 graduate of Roosevelt High School, is recognized for his personal achievements and the broader impact
of his journey. Identified as autistic at a young age, he thrived in Des Moines Public Schools with individualized support,
participating actively in band and track while building lasting relationships with peers and faculty. After high school, he
attended the PACE program at National Louis University, where he developed independence and workplace skills. His
experience helped inspire the creation of the REACH program at the University of Iowa in 2010, which now provides college
and life-skill opportunities to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and has graduated more than 230
students. Today, Ronald lives independently, has worked for 15 years in the Polk County Auditor’s Office, and recently
married his wife, Bailey Mathis—demonstrating how perseverance and inclusion can create lasting opportunities for
individuals and communities alike.

Dennis Kardon, a 1969 graduate of Roosevelt High School, is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work has been widely exhibited
and collected. He earned a B.A. in Visual Arts from Yale University and participated in both the Whitney Museum
Independent Study Program and the Yale Norfolk School of Art. Kardon began exhibiting in the 1970s, gaining early
recognition for his cut-paper works and later for woodblock prints featured in a 1983 Museum of Modern Art exhibition. His
figurative and psychological paintings have been shown in prominent galleries and institutions, and his best-known work, 49
Jewish Noses, received international attention through a traveling exhibition organized by the Jewish Museum. A recipient of
a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant, a Milton Avery fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Kardon’s work is held in
major collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is represented by Massimo
De Carlo gallery, teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and continues to contribute to the art world through both
his creative work and published writing.

Full biographies on each inductee can be found on the TRHS Foundation’s Blog: www.TRHSfoundation.org/blog.