The two 2014 inductees into the Great Bend High School Hall of Fame were recognized at a luncheon Friday afternoon.
Honored were  long-time “voice of the Panthers” Randy Goering and rocket scientist George Nossaman who worked on the Space Shuttle.
The goal of the HPF is to recognize students, faculty and community members who made a difference locally, as well at the state, national and international levels, Unified School District 428 Activities Director David Meter said at the luncheon. “These men are both very worthy of this induction.”
 The actual induction took place between the GBHS’ Panthers games against Dodge City Friday evening. A public reception followed the games in the Jack Kilby Commons, set in front a display case containing plaques and memorabilia paying tribute to all the recipients.
Friday afternoon, Goering’s voice wavered as he talked about his passion for Great Bend and its student athletes. “I’ve really enjoyed this opportunity,” he said.
“I am the eyes and ears of the fans who could not be at the games,” he said. He also wanted to give the kids as much positive press as he could.
Getting into broadcasting and play-by-play sort of by accident, Goering said he feels what he does makes a difference. He offered two “career-defining moments.”
The first was during a 21-0 softball game he was calling in Liberal. He had mentioned one of the Great Bend girls who had been injured, and the girl’s father received calls from concerned friends due to his coverage. The second involved the father of a basketball player who dying of cancer and could not make it to the games.
He recalled the help given him by his late father. He also thanked his wife and kids for their support and understanding.
Each of his sports broadcasts concluded with a cannon from “The Optimist Creed.” He ended his talk with this one: “Think only the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.”
 For Nossaman, it was his first time back to Great Bend in 30 years, but that didn’t stop the 1963 GBHS graduate from recalling his boyhood home. He credited this community and his upbringing here for his success.
“I had a lot of help along the way,” he said. Referring to slides of parents and his childhood, he related tales of baseball games, hunting and misguided youthful science experiments.
Over the years, he’s been involved in the Space Shuttle project, the Hubble Telescope and Mars rovers. He’s also helped develop computers that can withstand the intense radiation in outer space.
He showed photos these rovers had taken of the Mars surface and speculated that the manned mission to the red planet would take place between 2035-2014. “The first person to land on Mars could be alive today,” he said.
That traveler, he said, could come from Great Bend. The work ethic his parents and teachers here installed in him might launch the career of that brave soul.
This marks the seventh year for the HOF. Past inductees include globe-trotting JanSport founder Skip Yowell and microchip inventor Jack Kilby.
After the nominations come in, a committee made up of administrators, teachers, School Board representatives and local residents make the final determination. Nominees must be students, teachers or community members who have made a significant contribution to community or country.
Below are the biographies of the inductees.
 Randy Goering
 While a senior in high school, a surprise phone call from the McPherson radio station opened the door for a long and successful career in the broadcasting industry for Randy Goering. As a 4-H Junior Leader, Randy had helped collect audio bites which the McPherson station used to promote the 4-H Fair.
The station manger offered Goering the next part time opportunity to work at the station. That experience lead to a Degree in Broadcasting and a 40-plus year career in the industry.
Over the years, he has worked in radio stations in Hutchinson, Hays, Liberal, Junction City, and for the past 30 years in Great Bend.
During his time in Great Bend, Goering has worked in a variety of capacities with the local stations. Currently he is the Sales Manager for the cluster of four stations operated in Great Bend by Employee Owned, Eagle Communications.
He is known in the community for his many years of sports play by play as the “Voice of The Panthers” (1988-2006). He has also been active in the community and received many local honors.
Among his top professional awards was the 1996 Sportscaster of the Year award presented the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Administrators Association and the Hod Humiston Award for career achievement in sports broadcasting, presented in 2008 by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
He graduated from Moundridge High School in 1974 and from Huthinson Community College in 1976. He has been married to his wife Annette for 33 years and they have two adult children, Lindsey and her husband Cory Elsen, and Kendra Goering.
George Nossaman
George Nossaman spent 40 years working as an engineer and manager in the US Aerospace Industry. In his career, he led design for over $1B of complex electronic systems, systems which perform command and control functions on the ground and in space for major US National Space Systems. The ground control centers include the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Hubble Space Telescope Mission Control Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Later in his career, he managed one of the two facilities in the world that manufacture radiation hardened computers and microelectronics that serve as the electronic brains for spacecraft orbiting Mars, Saturn, Mercury, and Earth and exploring the surface of the Mars.
He was born and raised in Great Bend, Kansas, where he graduated from Great Bend High School in 1963. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas, where he also completed his M.S.E.E. He also earned an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Houston, CLC.
His first job was with Bell Aerospace in Buffalo, NY, where he developed a research laboratory dedicated to image scanning and analysis.
He is a Senior Fellow of AIAA, served on the AIAA Space Launch Subcommittee, was Section Chairman for the IEEE Group in Information Theory, and contributed to Studies of the National Research Council.
He retired in 2008, and now resides in Clifton, Virginia, with his wife of 38 years, Judi (nee Hurwitz). He spends time relaxing with mathematics, tracing his family tree, mentoring research projects at George Mason University, studying languages, and enjoying his two children and four grandchildren.