As a student in Richland County School District One, John W. Bluford attended Carver Elementary School (now Carver-Lyon Elementary), W.A. Perry Junior High School (now W.A. Perry Middle) and graduated from C.A. Johnson High School in 1967. He went on to earn a B.A. degree from Fisk University (1971), an MBA from Northwestern University (1975) and he studied at Harvard University’s Executive Program in Health Policy (1981).

Bluford began his career in 1972 as the evening administrator at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. He also served for 21 years in various leadership capacities at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, including the last six as its CEO.

For the past ten years, Bluford has served as President/CEO of Truman Medical Centers (TMC) in Kansas City, Missouri. His tenure at TMC is part of a distinguished career in hospital and health system administration that has spanned more than three decades. Bluford is a nationally known healthcare innovator who has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare. In July 2009 the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees elected Bluford as Chairman-Elect following several years of service on various committees with the association. Bluford is also a past chair of the National Association of Public Hospitals. Among the accomplishments he is most proud of in his career is helping to change the culture of the organizations he has led to become more customer service- and patient safety-oriented and more innovative. Above all, Bluford has succeeded at transforming the hospitals he has led into hospitals of first choice for patients, employees and community partnerships.

Bluford’s financial accomplishments at TMC include increasing total net revenue to $423 million from $197 million over the course of ten years and a quadrupling of commercial insurance revenue. Additionally, Bluford is proud to have developed the TMC Corporate Academy, the Center for the Healing Arts Gallery and an employee and community Farmers Market. In 2005 TMC was honored by University HealthSystems Consortium as one of the Top Five Academic Medical Centers in the country.

Bluford has always been civically engaged in the communities in which he has worked. His current board memberships include the American Hospital Association, National Association of Public Hospitals, Morehouse College School of Medicine, United Way of Greater Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, DeCare International and the H&R Block Bank. In 2007 Bluford served as the first African-American Chairman of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in its 122-year history.

His awards and achievements are numerous and include the Missouri Hospital Association’s Distinguished Service Award (2009), recognition by the Kansas City Urban League Difference Maker Award (2006); NCCJ Harmony Distinguished Citizen Award (2006); NAACP Special Achievement Award (2004); and the Missouri Hospital Association Visionary Leadership Award (2003).

Bluford’s publications include articles in Imaging Economic, The Journal of HealthCare for the Poor & Underserved, and Hospitals. He has presented nationally and internationally on the subjects of Managed Care and Change Management in Healthcare Organizations. His international presentations include "The Changing USA Health Care Marketplace," Alyn Orthopedic Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel; "Managed Care and the Future," Siemens Incorporated, Erlangen, Germany; and "Responsible Privatization," Conference for Independent States, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Bluford and his wife, Joanne, live in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He has two children - John W. Bluford, IV and Jennifer.

Ronald L. Epps was born in Kansas City, Kansas on March 3, 1945. He attended the Kansas City Public Schools where he decided during his sophomore year of high school that he wanted to teach. That inspiration came from his American History teacher, Mr. Robert Wilson, who served for many years as Epps’ standard by which to judge quality teaching. While at Washington High School in Kansas City, Epps was a member of the track and cross-country teams. Following high school graduation, he entered Emporia State Teachers College where he graduated with majors in Social Science and English.

In the fall of 1966, Epps began his teaching career as a middle school teacher in the Topeka Public Schools, birthplace of Brown vs. the Board of Education. Within three years he joined the administrative ranks of Highland Park High School where he was named as the youngest high school principal and one of only two African-American high school principals in the state. While in Topeka, Epps became the associate superintendent of schools prior to moving to Rockford, Illinois as superintendent in 1993. Dr. Epps served in that position until coming to Richland County School District One in 1999 as superintendent of the Midlands’ largest school district.

The seven members of the Richland One Board of School Commissioners and their new superintendent tackled many challenges upon Epps’ arrival. The district was reorganized into zones to provide more direct service and support to schools. Epps was responsible for overseeing a huge construction project that involved building a new middle school and new construction or renovation of all district elementary schools as part of a $184 million bond issue that had been passed under the previous administration. It is noteworthy that under the Epps administration every project was brought in under budget and on time. Near the completion of those projects, the Board successfully sought passage (by a 2-to-1 margin) of a second bond issue, the largest school construction bond issue ($381 million) passed by voters in South Carolina history. After the November 2002 referendum, the staff began the work of building two new high schools, two new middle schools and major renovation of every remaining middle and high school in the district. At the conclusion of the project, Richland One students would be educated in K-12 schools that were among the most modern and best equipped in South Carolina and the nation.

During the six years of the Epps administration, Richland One students produced some of the greatest academic achievement gains in the district’s history. Many schools experienced double-digit growth in test scores. In support of the classroom, the Board undertook codifying all of its policies with the Administration developing corresponding regulations to support the implementation of this ambitious undertaking. Policies, administrative regulations and procedures were all computerized to create public transparency at a level never before accomplished in the district. It was during this period of time that the superintendent worked with the students of the district to recommend a health and nutrition policy which removed all sodas and junk food from district vending machines. In recognition of these efforts by the staff, the Board and the students, the Surgeon General of the United States brought Epps to Washington, D.C. and presented him and the district with the Outstanding Service Award.

As a result of the high-performing team that was created between the Board, the superintendent and the staff, the district was presented with the South Carolina School Boards Association’s Distinguished Leadership Award twice. This award was the culmination and recognition of many opportunities that were created by this Board/staff team, including the annual Academic All-Stars Recognition Banquet (honoring outstanding high-school seniors); the District Arts Festival (showcasing students’ talents in the visual and performing arts); College Fair (the largest public school-sponsored college fair in the state); Future Focus Career Quest (a career fair for district eighth-graders); Richland One Middle College (a public charter school housed on the campus of Midlands Technical College); and expansion of the Challenger Learning Center (South Carolina’s only Challenger Learning Center for space science education). Other notable achievements by the Board and the Administration during the Epps administration included establishing Montessori and International Baccalaureate programs, forming the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, winning the most state athletics championships in the district’s history while having the highest academic eligibility requirement in the state (C average policy) and instituting the annual Coaches Convocation.

Dr. Epps retired from Richland One in 2005 after 41 years of service in education. He continues to reside in the Columbia community where he works as a national education consultant. He and his wife, Joyce, have two children – Danielle, a pediatrician in Columbia, and Trevin, a certified financial planner in San Diego.

Elizabeth “Betty” Foran, a Columbia native, was born June 17, 1924. She attended Richland County School District One schools and graduated from Columbia High in 1941. She attended the University of South Carolina, majored in Art Education and received an A.B. degree in 1944. She also completed the requirements for a certificate in social studies in 1944. Later she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 1954 received a B.S. degree in Library Science. She attended an NDEA Institute for Advanced Work in Library Science at USC.

Foran’s professional career began as a social studies teacher at Dreher High School in 1944 for one year. Returning to Dreher in 1954, she served as librarian until 1959. She was employed by the Richland County Public Library as assistant librarian and Director of Children’s Services from 1958-1966, when she was selected to serve as Richland One’s first coordinator of Library Services. She served in that position from 1966-1974. In 1974 the district’s audio visual and library services departments merged and Foran was appointed as the first Director of Media Services serving until her retirement in 1983. After she retired, she was asked by the U.S. State Department to visit several countries in Western Africa where she assisted in the development of school library services.

Foran was a tireless advocate for quality teaching and learning. She worked to ensure that the district’s school library media programs contributed positively to the district’s success. The impact and influence of her work and service to Richland One is still being felt today. Foran was a visionary who knew that educating students required many strategies, tools and approaches. As a result, her creativity in designing and supporting library, information and communication services laid the foundation for many of the successes and programs that Richland One continues to use and benefit from today.

Noted among them is Richland One Television. Foran established the relationship with SCETV for the experimental use of television in our district schools. From its original home in the current Stevenson Administration Building, the Media Services Department made access to statewide instructional television programming a reality. Teachers could now supplement their instruction with quality television programs that reinforced instruction and engaged students. Additionally, under Foran’s leadership, the district’s studio and production team were able to capture and broadcast many phases of life and learning in Richland One. The later move to Waverley Annex (1982-1983) allowed her to expand the studio, both in space and production equipment. She began discussions for a larger, more professional studio design which resulted in the current ROTV studio. Perhaps one of her greatest accomplishments was entering the formal agreements with CCTC – Columbia Cable Television (now Time Warner Cable) and TCI Cablevision, Inc. (formerly Tele-Communications, Inc.) for 24/7 access to their channels to share district news and events with the community.

Foran was a strong leader in the development of school libraries, not only in Richland One schools, but across the state. Because there were only a few counties in the state that had district-level professional library support for school librarians, many districts sought advice from her and from Richland One. As a result of Foran’s dedication to school libraries and to education and her ability to turn visions into realities, Richland One became a showcase for excellent school library programs which became known locally, statewide and nationally. Today, Richland One is still recognized as a leader in quality school library programs.

Betty Foran passed away on October 19, 1990.