The newest class of inductees to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Starr Women’s Hall of Fame, established a decade ago to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of women who have benefitted the Kansas City region and beyond, showcases a major multitude of firsts.
The seven inductees include: the first Native American to argue a case in the Supreme Court; the first woman named as president of the Black Coaches Association and the first African American woman to coach the Olympic women’s basketball team; a philanthropist who helped shape the arts and healthcare delivery in Kansas City and who established the first center dedicated to women’s heart health in the U.S.; the woman who founded the first bilingual newspaper in the four-state region; a communications firm founder who has led the first family of multiple U.S. presidential administrations on diplomatic tours in dozens of countries; the first African American superintendent of the Hickman Mills Schools District who mentors women seeking doctoral degrees; and the first at-large chair of the Board of County Commissioners in Johnson County.
Starr Women’s Hall of Fame will induct its sixth class honoring trailblazing Kansas City women at 4 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Sponsor opportunities are available and individual ticket information will be available in the upcoming months.
Learn more about the seven exceptional women who are the Class of 2025 inductees:
Eliza Burton Conley Jr.
Conley, who died in 1946, is the first Native American to argue a case before the Supreme Court and the first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. She is best known for her advocacy to prevent the Wyandotte ancestral burial grounds in downtown Kansas City, Kansas being sold for commercial development space and her lifelong work to protect tribal rights. An alumna of the Kansas City School of Law, now UMKC School of Law, her legal and civic advocacy resulted in the placement of the Wyandotte National Burial Grounds on the National Register of Historic Places. She brought this battle to protect a sacred and culturally significant burial ground all the way to the Supreme Court and she, her sister and other women of the tribe erected a barricade on the cemetery and guarded it with shotguns.
Muriel Irene McBrien Kauffman
Through her leadership and investments in this community and those of the foundation that bears her name, Kauffman, has forever changed the arts and healthcare delivery landscape of the Kansas City community. Known as Mrs. K, she established a small business when she was only 16, and after her father died at age 50, she took over his businesses, including an insurance company, real estate holdings and a law practice. In the early 1960s, she married Ewing Kauffman who had a thriving business in Kansas City, Marion Laboratories. Muriel Kauffman became vice president-director of Marion Laboratories, and also served as the treasurer for 20 years before becoming president of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation that focused on her passion for the performing and visual arts. She also championed healthcare. The Saint Luke’s Muriel I. Kauffman’s Women’s Heart Center was the first center of its kind in the United States that is dedicated to proactive treatment of women’s heart health when it opened in 1994 in Kansas City. Kauffman also was the first woman elected to a major Kansas City bank board and the first woman to step onto the floor the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to Kauffman’s passing in 1995, her last wish expressed to her daughter, Julia, was to build a performing arts center. Julia took this request to heart and opened the 316,000-square-foot Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in 2011. This center is not only home to three resident arts organizations: the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Ballet and the Kansas City Lyric Opera, but also provides diverse performances and support for smaller arts organizations and programs creating unique accessibility for all. It is due to her that the area has the Kansas City Royals, convincing her husband they should purchase the team in 1968; and she became the first woman to receive a “Mr. Baseball” award from the Baseball Writers Association.
Roshann Parris
Parris began her career in Washington, D.C. in 1978 as a researcher on U.S. Middle East policy for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, while traveling nationwide as national chairperson of the New York-based United Jewish Appeal Student Advisory Board. In 1988, she founded Parris Communications, a Kansas City-based public relations and strategic communications firm specializing in strategic corporate communications, media relations, public affairs and crisis communications with clients including Fortune 50 companies nationwide. Throughout her career, Parris has led advance teams on behalf of the White House during multiple presidential administrations, traveling to 60 countries. She considers her pro-bono White House work her national duty to the U.S. Just a few examples: Parris served as Lead Advance on the White House Presidential Advance Team accompanying President Clinton and the First Lady to more than 50 countries including historic visits to peacekeeping troops in Bosnia; to Greece for the Olympic Torch Lighting; to London for Princess Diana’s funeral; to Calcutta, India for the funeral of Mother Teresa and to Belfast, Jerusalem and Gaza in support of diplomatic peace efforts. Parris also has led a similar scope of work for both the Obama and Biden administrations.
Clara Reyes
Reyes, who died in February, came to the U.S. from Mexico with a dentistry degree that wasn't recognized. Instead of giving up, she pivoted and used her tenacity and determination to work in real estate and interpreting before founding the Dos Mundos (two worlds) newspaper in 1981, the first bilingual newspaper in the four-state region, with stories written in Spanish and English. She led by example, giving Hispanic people a voice whether by featuring them in the bilingual newspaper, providing jobs or through mentorship. She served in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City, the National Federation of Hispanic-Owned Publications and other organizations. She was integral in beautifying Southwest Boulevard in the ’80s and ’90s, working with city leaders to improve parking and pavers. Reyes, who had cancer and because of her advocacy for early detection, was president of the Hispanic Women Against Cancer, a support system for Latinas diagnosed with cancer. Reyes Media Group expanded into radio in 2006, starting three Spanish stations KYYS 1250 AM “La X,” KDTD 1340 AM “La Grande” and KYZZ 1480 AM “Dos Mundos Radio.” Her legacy lives on as the media group continues to thrive and is led by her children, Diana Reyes Raymer and Ed Reyes.
Annabeth Surbaugh
Surbaugh, who learned of her of her induction into the Hall before she died in August, was a pioneering leader in Johnson County, helping shape it into a prominent part of the metro area. A member of the Board of County Commissioners for 18 years, she was the first publicly elected, at-large chair of the board after passage of the county’s home rule charter. She served two terms (2003-2011) as chairman after 10 years (1993-2003) as Third District commissioner. As chair, the hallmarks of her service included restorative justice, environmental sustainability, affordable housing and mental health as well as long-term land planning in the rural areas of the county, not previously addressed. She focused on the greater Kansas City area, championing the bi-state tax for Union Station as well as the Mid-America Regional Council known as MARC. Prior public service included being elected as the first woman to serve on the board of Rural Water District No. 2 in 1988. In 1989, she was elected to the board of Water One of Johnson County, becoming the first woman chair in 1991.
Marian E. Washington
Coach Washington not only pioneered the women’s athletic program at the University of Kansas where she served as athletic director and women’s basketball coach, she also paved the way for Black women in sports in the U.S. She was the first of two Black women to play on a U.S. national team (1969-71); the first to serve as the head coach for a U.S. international team (1982 U.S. Select) and the first to coach on an Olympic women’s basketball staff (assistant on 1996 gold-medal-winning U.S. team). She was the first woman elected president of the Black Coaches Association and the first person to serve consecutive terms. She excelled in seven sports while in high school and was a two-time AAU All-American at West Chester State. She helped lead the Golden Rams to a national title in 1969 the first-ever in the history of collegiate women’s basketball and was also an outstanding track and field athlete and handball player. She was the face of women’s basketball at KU for more than 30 years, leading the Jayhawks to the NCAA Tournament 11 times and the AIAW Tournament (pre-NCAA) another four times. During her time at KU, she recruited and facilitated scholarships for students across the region, and was known to work tirelessly for opportunities and equity for women in all endeavors. Washington’s teams excelled with a high win rate, and she was widely recognized as an example of women’s success. Many players in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, where she was inducted in 2004, attribute their success and leadership style to Coach Washington.
Marjorie A. Williams
Known widely as Dr. Marj, Williams has given nearly 40 years in service of schools, children, university scholars and teachers. Williams in 2000 became the first African American superintendent in the 100-year history of Hickman Mills School District. Williams, a Local Investment Commissioner, started in education with teaching and administrative jobs in Kansas City Public Schools and the Columbia and Ferguson Florissant school districts before becoming Hickman Mills’ superintendent. She also served in higher education as an adjunct professor with UMKC, Baker University, Ottawa University and Kansas State University. In 2012, she founded The Marste Group, a consulting firm that serves school districts and businesses nationwide. In 2016, she co-founded and continues to be involved in the Sisters’ Circle Fund-Greater Kansas City. Williams also mentors women of color in doctoral program through the national organization, Societas Docta. In 2021, Williams served as co-chair to the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame Awards with Alicia Starr.
Leading the 2025 Starr Women’s Hall of Fame induction event are chair Michelle Wimes (B.A. ’88), senior vice president and chief equity and inclusion officer at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, and honorary chair Karen Daniel (M.S. ’81), president of the KC2026 Board of Directors for the FIFA 2026 World Cup Games hosted in Kansas City.
Visit
To date and not counting those who will be inducted in 2025, the Hall of Fame has inducted 45 women, half of them posthumously. By sharing their stories, the Hall of Fame encourages and inspires women everywhere. Written and video biographies of each of the inductees are available on the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame website.
A permanent display honoring Hall of Fame members is open to the public on the third floor of the Miller Nichols Library and Learning Center at UMKC, 800 E. 51st St., Kansas City. The Hall of Fame includes a wall of honor as well as an archive of important papers, images and artifacts of the enshrined members. Money raised from the induction event assists in further development of the digitization and acquisition of materials for the Hall of Fame archives, ensuring that the works of these exceptional women will be accessible in perpetuity not only to community members, but also to researchers, educators and historians worldwide.
History
Founded in 2014 with its first class of inductees in 2015, the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame is named in honor of Martha Jane Phillips Starr, a legendary activist and philanthropist who blazed a trail for family issues and women's rights. She played an important role in establishing the university’s Women's Council and the Graduate Assistance Fund, which today provides financial assistance to female students. Starr died in 2011 at the age of 104.
The Hall is made possible through the Starr Education Committee, Martha Jane Starr’s family and the Starr Field of Interest Fund, which was established upon her death through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. The idea for the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame stemmed from Starr Education Committee members.
Supporting organizations
The civic organizations that advocate on behalf of women and family issues and have signed on in support of the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame include: American Association of University Women; American Business Women’s Association; Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City; Central Exchange; CBIZ Women’s Advantage; Girl Scouts of NE Kansas and NW Missouri; Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Executive Women’s Leadership Council; Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus; Jackson County Missouri Chapter of the Links, Inc.; Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri; KC Metro Latinas; Kansas City Athenaeum; Kansas City Young Matrons; OneKC for Women; SkillBuilders Fund; Soroptimist International of Kansas City; Soroptimist Kansas City Foundation; UMKC; UMKC Women’s Center; UMKC Women’s Council; UMKC Women of Color Leadership Conference; United WE; WIN for KC; win|win; Women Leaders in College Sports; Women’s Public Service Network; Zonta International District 7; and Zonta Club of KC II.