Letter from Baltimore Sun Media Publisher/Editor Trif Alatzas: Congratulations to the 2023 Hall of Fame class
The Baltimore Sun’s Business and Civic Hall of Fame enters its eighth year by adding 14 leaders who have made significant contributions to improving Baltimore and Maryland. Since its inception in 2016, we have inducted 98 individuals into our Hall of Fame. These members are recognized for their achievements in business, philanthropy, media, public service, education and more.
Published for the first time in 1837, The Sun has as its core mission to hold institutions, leaders and decision-makers accountable while seeking solutions to the region’s challenges. We also acknowledge our responsibility to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding individuals in our communities and to highlight their stories. We do that in part through annual publications such as the Hall of Fame, Baltimore’s Best (July), Women to Watch (October) and Top Workplaces (December).
Three years ago, we unveiled the permanent Hall of Fame installation in collaboration with the Center Club in downtown Baltimore. We invite you to visit this display sometime soon. It honors our past honorees, and we expand it with each new class of inductees annually.
Members of the first seven Hall of Fame classes include former U.S. Rep. Helen Delich Bentley (2016); developer and H&S Bakery founder John Paterakis Sr. (’16); philanthropists Eddie and Sylvia Brown (’16); former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (’17); Harbor Bank of Maryland co-founder Joseph Haskins (’18); former Baltimore Mayor and current University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke (’19); former UMBC President Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III (’20), the Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr. (’21); and former journalist and museum director Wanda Q. Draper (’22).
This year’s class is made up of: Leonard “Lennie” Attman, an accomplished business and community leader; Patricia and Michael Batza, business leaders and philanthropists; the Rev. Dr. John Richard Bryant, a bishop who has pastored three churches; Mary Catherine Bunting, a retired nurse practitioner, former nun and philanthropist; Richard W. “Dick” Cass, retired Ravens president; Dr. Kevin J. Cullen, retiring director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center; Robert K. “Bob” Gehman, recently retired president of the Helping Up Mission; Dr. Leslie King Hammond, artist, author, curator and scholar; Anthony T. “Tony” Hawkins, Harborplace’s first general manager; Sherrilyn Ifill, president emerita and director counsel emerita of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Sheela Murthy, founder of the Murthy Law Firm, which specializes in immigration; Timothy J. “Tim” Regan, Whiting-Turner president and CEO working personally to develop a community hub at Mondawmin Mall; and Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein, philanthropist, real estate developer and former journalist.
The selection process for the class of 2023 involved soliciting nominations from our readers and assembling a selection committee composed of past Hall of Fame inductees. This diverse group of individuals played an instrumental role in identifying potential candidates. The selection committee worked closely with our editorial board to evaluate each nominee’s accomplishments, including their business success, leadership, influence in building organizations, support for various causes, and contributions in propelling Maryland and the Baltimore region forward. Ultimately, the final decisions were made by members of the editorial board, which I oversee.
As has been the practice in the past, a portion of the proceeds from this Hall of Fame publication will be donated to charity; this year’s partnership is with the Roca anti-violence program, which is working to disrupt incarceration, poverty and racism. We thank our sponsors, whose advertising can be found throughout this publication and at baltimoresun.com.
We also would like to thank each of the 2023 Hall of Fame inductees, whose profiles appear throughout the pages of this section, for their leadership and commitment to Baltimore and Maryland. We hope that their stories will serve as an example and inspiration to others.
Baltimore Sun Media has long dedicated itself to leadership in journalism, business and debate. The Sun’s Hall of Fame recognizes Maryland’s modern-day leaders who have helped to set a standard for future generations and chronicles the lives of these extraordinary women and men whose achievements define our city and region.
Congratulations to the class of 2023.
— Trif Alatzas
Publisher and editor-in-chief
