Inducted in 2007
Dr. Leon Goldman - Class of 1922
Following his graduation from Taft High, Leon Goldman became a well-known surgeon and served as department chairman at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School from 1956 to 1963. Dr. Goldman is the father of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
LT. Gen. Gordon Graham - Class of 1934
Lt. General Gordon M, Graham, a Petroleum Engineer with the Honolulu Oil Co. in Taft, went on to become a triple-ace fighter pilot with seventy-three missions over Europe and 146 combat missions in Southeast Asia.
Lt. Col. Charles Hudson - Class of 1934
Lt. Colonel Charlie Hudson completed two tours of duty abroad a B-17 Flying Fortress in Europe during World War II. He is one of the most highly decorated bombardiers of that war and was known as "Combat Charlie Hudson".
Tom O'Brien - Class of 1930
Tom O'Brien was a long-time shot and discus coach and athletic trainer at TUHS. He was an official at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He was the trainer & coach for Leon Patterson, who was a national shot put record holder.
Leon Patterson - Class of 1952
Leon Patterson was the first high school student in the United States to throw the shot put over 60 feet, setting a national record. He was recruited by the University of Southern California and accepted a scholarship to attend their prestigious school. As a sophomore at USC, he threw the discus 178 feet, 8 inches - farther than any college sophomore in history.
Sergeant Larry S. Pierce - Class of 1959
Sgt. Pierce was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1965. He was killed in Vietnam when he threw himself on an anti-personnel mine to save his platoon of men. Pierce was the first soldier from California to earn the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam conflict and the only Medal of Honor recipient from Kern County.
Assemblyman Trice Harvey - Class of 1955
Trice Harvey, while attending Taft High and Taft College, played quarterback for both teams. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Health from Fresno State College and worked as a health inspector in Kern County for 10 years. Trice is the only Taft High graduate to be elected to Kern County Board of Supervisors and also the only graduate top be elected as a State of California Assemblyman.
Rear Admiral William S. Putnam - Class of 1962
A distinguished naval officer for thirty-four years, Rear Admiral William L. Putnam, USN commanded the Abraham Lincoln (carrier) Battle Group during counter terrorism operations in 1998 in the Persian Gulf, a destroyer squadron during Operation Desert Storm and the guided missile destroyer USS Scott during counter terrorism operations in the Mediterranean in 1985 and 1986. He graduated from Stanford University and the Graduate School of Business as a Sloan Fellow.
Dr. Leo Elton Smith - Class of 1955
Dr. Smith is a distinguished surgeon in Washington D.C. He established the colon and rectal surgery center at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. Dr. Smith has operated on three U.S. presidents, which include President Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter.
Thomas Stevens - Class of 1956
Thomas (Tom) Stevens, was appointed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra by Zubin Mehta, who named him the principal trumpet player for the orchestra. Before joining the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas served in the U.S. Army as solo trumpeter with the United States Military Academy Band at West Point. He has also played with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Brass Quintet, to name a few. Thomas Stevens has been a faculty member at the University of Southern California, CalArts, and the Music Academy of the West.