McClain Bryant Macklin, was recently promoted to vice president of policy and impact at the Health Forward Foundation. She joined Health Forward in 2020 as director of policy and strategic initiatives. Prior to Health Forward, she was director of policy and research at the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, director of policy for the KCMO Mayor’s office, and an attorney at Husch Blackwell.
Bryant Macklin serves on several local and national boards including: the National Black Empowerment Council; the Network for Public Health Law National Advisory Board; the Arvest Bank Advisory Board for Greater Kansas City; and the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City Board of Directors. She earned her Master of Business Administration degree at the Florida A&M University. Bryant Macklin also attended George Washington University.
Retired Judge Louis Sturns has been inducted into the Wichita State University Hall of Fame. Judge Sturns received his bachelor of arts degree in political science from Wichita State and his doctorate in law from the University of Kansas School of Law. A native of Fairview, TX, Sturns attended Wichita State University because he had two brothers who lived in Wichita, Vernell and Riley Sturns who both worked for the City of Wichita.
During the span of his long legal career, Judge Sturns experienced a few firsts, including being the first African American Criminal District Court Judge in Tarrang (Ft. Worth, TX) County; the first African-American to serve on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for criminal cases, and the first African American president of the Tarrant County Bar Association.
After serving on the Criminal Appeals Court, he returned to private practice and later became judge of the 213th District Court in Tarrant County, where he served until he retired.