Meet the 2023 South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductees

Rotarian Dave Rozenboom, who serves on the Board of Directors for the SD Hall of Fame, will sit down with the 2023 inductees to the South Dakota Hall of Fame on Monday, October 2nd. We will meet upstairs in the Starlite Room. Inductees joining us are:

Walt Bones – When Walt Bones is asked to serve, he says “yes!” From serving as a grade school basketball coach to serving on the Parker School Board and on every agricultural board in S.D. (and even as South Dakota's Secretary of Agriculture), Bones has been a humble servant leader—one who listens before he speaks. Internationally, he has traveled to China, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya as an agricultural leader to assist farmers. He rises up to serve his fellow farmers in times of crisis and distress. He has promoted the stress hotline for farmers and ranchers, letting his friends know they can reach out for help. Bones is a natural teacher and loves sharing his knowledge of agriculture with others.

Dr. Pam Homan – Downtown Rotarian Dr. Pamela “Pam” Homan has been a lifelong educator and one of the most effective and innovative administrators in K-12 public education the state has ever known. She has exercised enormous influence on education policy at the local and state levels by focusing on students, technology integration, and strategic community partnerships. Dr. Homan’s passion for children with learning and behavioral disabilities has been steadfast, beginning as a special education teacher in the classroom, which then developed into a hospital-based school program for children in need of psychiatric acute care. Dr. Homan earned advanced degrees in educational administration and she served as an elementary school principal and Director of Assessment, Technology, and Information Services before becoming the first woman to serve as Superintendent of the Sioux Falls School District.

Dr. José-Marie Griffiths – The outstanding accomplishments of Dr. José-Marie Griffiths in the field of higher education are a coalescence of three pillars of professional interaction. She has transformed South Dakota since her arrival to the state in 2015 and moved Dakota State University (DSU) to a new place in the higher education world. For DSU to become a leader in cyber education and a leading research and development university in the nation, the DSU needed dynamic, connected, and informed leadership. That leadership came with the appointment of Dr. Griffiths as President. She has previously served in presidential appointments to the National Science Board, the U.S. President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Larry Rohrer – Larry Rohrer’s vision of public media has had an impact on every South Dakota high school, creating ahead-of-its-time coverage of events on the internet, and increased television broadcasts of high school athletics and fine arts. This large-scale media partnership was the first in the nation and remains a point of pride. Rohrer is most widely recognized as a voice and program host on the SDPB Radio and Television network but has an even greater impact on all South Dakotans through his innovations in media programming. His outreach for arts organization partnerships has supported hundreds of concert programs from the South Dakota Symphony, Black Hills Symphony, local and regional musicians, and online distribution of the Levitt concert season for South Dakotans to access wherever they live.

The buffet lunch will be available beginning at 11:30 am. The menu will be: Adult Gouda Mac with Chicken, Chef’s Choice Vegetable, Garlic Bread Sticks, Tossed Salad and Dessert. RSVP is not required.

The presentation, at the club’s regular weekly meeting, will be held at the Holiday Inn City Centre, Sioux Falls and will begin at noon. All Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary Club programs are open only to Rotarians and their guests. All programs are subject to the club's Privacy Policy. Local media are invited to attend to record the session.



Rotary International is one of the premier service organizations in the world. The Rotary Club of Downtown Sioux Falls is among the largest 20 clubs in the world. For more information on how to become a mentor or involve your organization in mentoring visit Sioux52.org.