Achievers Hall of Fame Inductees 2012

2012 group pictureHARRY LEFEVER - Springfield High School English Teacher 1954-1969

At Villanova University, Harry L. LeFever was class Valedictorian, Battalion Commander, NROTC and played varsity baseball. He served as Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. In 1954, Harry was hired to teach History at Springfield High School and contracted to teach English. While at Springfield, Harry served as Dean and Athletic Director at the Junior High School; co-created the American Studies Program; founded the Philosophy Club; served as a member of the Race Relations Committee during the school district merger; and was named a John Hay Fellow at Harvard University. From 1969-1992, at Delaware County Community College, he served as Chair of the Communication & Humanities Department and received the Gould Award, which is given to distinguished faculty "...whose commitment, achievement and love for what they do inspire both students and colleagues." Harry served on the Springfield Township Library Board and received the Chapel of the Four Chaplains Award in recognition of his service "...to all people, regardless of race, or faith." Until his death in 2008, Harry LeFever was a poet. He wrote as a man who seemed to know that "the universe is wider than our views of it." And he wrote as a man who took to heart this dictum of Thoreau: “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”


HAL TAUSSIG - Springfield High SChool Social Studies Teacher 1961-1967

Mr. Hal Taussig is one of the most unique individuals to have ever walked the hallways at Springfield High School. A few examples of descriptors for Dr. Taussig include philanthropist of world-wide renown, a cattle rancher, a high school teacher, a college professor, a successful businessman, a venture capitalist. Hal taught at Springfield High School from 1961 to 1967. During that time, he was instrumental in developing and teaching in the American Studies program, an innovative approach for using multi-media vehicles to teach 11th grade high students language arts and social studies in common curriculum materials. Lectures, seminars and extensive reading requirements outside of class helped prepare thousands of SHS students for the rigors of college. It was a highly successful program that lasted for over 25 years at Springfield. After leaving Springfield, Dr. Taussig was a college professor and then started his own business, Untours, in the mid 70’s. Untours is a remarkably successful travel business with a unique approach. It is based on the concept that travelers need to feel like residents of the location being visited, not short term visitors. There are no tour guides but rather experiences designed to help the visitor learn and feel the new location. The business was very successful but Hal’s decision about how to use the profits generated is what sets him apart. He decided to give 100% of the profits to his Idyll Development Foundation. The Foundation gives all of its funds, in the form of low interest loans, to small enterprises in order to help promote economic justice in the US and around the world. The Foundation has supplied over $5 million to numerous enterprises. In 1999, Paul Newman and John Kennedy Jr. presented Hal with the “Most Generous Company in America” award. The award was $250,000 in prize money. The foundation then loaned the entire amount to Homecare Associates in Philadelphia, a home care service provider owned by the aides who worked for the agency. Hal Taussig has lived by his principles for his entire life and continues to do so. Hal lives in Media and continues to be active in his community by leading the efforts to expand the Fair Trade principles to more businesses in the area. While Dr. Taussig’s time at Springfield was relatively short, his contributions and service as a role model are not easily measured and are greatly admired.


WENDY CADGE - Class of 1993

Dr. Wendy Cadge is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University. Dr. Cadge teaches and writes about religion in the contemporary United States, especially related to healthcare, immigration and sexuality. Wendy is the author of Heartwood: The First Generation of Theravada Buddhism in America as well as many articles, including recent pieces on intercessory prayer, physicians’ experiences of religion and spirituality, hospital chaplains, and the prayers people write in hospital prayer books. She also regularly works with the media contributing op-ed pieces to major newspapers and appearing on television to comment on her areas of study. Wendy’s new book Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine is be published by the University of Chicago Press. Dr. Cadge graduated from Swarthmore College and continued her education at Princeton University where she obtained her Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, Sri Lanka (1998-1999) and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (2010). In addition to being a leading scholar in her field, Wendy is a wonderful person.


INGI LEE - Class of 1993

Dr. Ingi Lee was an instructor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, Dr. Lee was also a member of the Center for Evidence-based Practice, and a Faculty-Fellow in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Dr. Lee has recently taken a position at Merck Research Laboratories where she will pursue an opportunity in clinical research for vaccines. Her clinical and research interests include infectious complications of solid organ transplantation as well as healthcare associated infections. She will continue her ties to the University of Pennsylvania through an adjunct faculty position. Dr. Lee attended medical school at Yale University and had her training in Infectious Disease at the University of Pennsylvania. Ingi’s response to learning that she was nominated for this honor was, “I am proud to have had the opportunity to attend SHS and I believe that the experiences and lessons I learned there helped to shape me subsequent opportunities.”


MICHAEL SCIOSCIA - Class of 1976

Mike Scioscia has been manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2000 and is presently the longest tenured manager in major league baseball. After a very successful playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which included two All-Star games and a World Series ring, Mike spent several seasons as a minor league manager and major league coach in the Dodger’s organization. Since being named manager of the Angels, he twice was honored with the American League Manager of the Year Award and led his Angels to the World Series Championship in 2002, becoming only the 17th person to win a World Series as a player and a coach. He won five American League division titles and is currently the all-time leader in wins and games managed in Angels’ history, the first manager to reach the playoffs in six of his first ten seasons. Outside of baseball, Mike appeared as a character on The Simpsons. In 2004, he founded a non-profit foundation, Amateur Baseball Development Group, which raises funds to help local southern California high school baseball programs and organize leagues and teams for boys. A major fund-raiser is the Mike Scioscia Charity Golf Tournament in Moorpark, California. The Scioscia name has been known in a different context at Springfield High School for many years and at tonight’s Honors Reception, one of the best SHS students will be awarded the Florence Scioscia Scholarship, named for Mike’s mother who was a long-time teacher at Sabold Elementary School. Mike is responsible for funding that scholarship through the Springfield Area Educational Foundation.


Lisa Lockley - Class of 1975

Ms. Lockley is an Adjunct Professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Widener University. In addition to teaching college students, Ms. Lockley is extremely committed to teaching adolescents as she actively works with teens from the age of 12 to 18 in a community service group entitled Teens for Positive Empowerment. Ms. Lockley also founded the Timbuktu Tutorial Program which assisted young students and served as a feeder program to the Teens for Positive Empowerment Program. Ms. Lockley earned her Bachelor’s degree and her Master of Education Degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education from Widener University. Lisa’s contributions to the continuing education of students, as well as her interest in supporting the foundation of a productive education in young children are most commendable. Lisa recently commented that her most enjoyable and satisfying experiences are when she reunites with young adults who were part of her Teens for Positive Empowerment Program as youngsters. Many of these individuals have gone on to become college graduates, and they commonly point to Ms. Lockley’s encouragement and support as a significant reason that they are doing so well. A more recent SHS graduate, who was tutored by Lisa Lockley in the Teens program, is now embarking on a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. Undoubtedly the legacy of Lisa’s work will someday lead to additional inductees into the Achievers Hall of Fame.


KAREN BRETHERICK PEETZ - Class of 1973

Karen Peetz is a Vice-Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Markets & Treasury Services for BNY Mellon, headquartered at One Wall Street in Manhattan. She is a member of the BNY Mellon Executive Committee, the company’s most senior management body. The seven businesses that she leads represent more than forty percent of the company’s revenue. These businesses include 17,000 employees and serve clients worldwide. She is the founder & chairperson of the company’s Women’s Initiative Network, a global resource for the professional development & advancement of women who work at BNY Mellon. Before joining the company, Karen spent sixteen years with JP Morgan Chase in a variety of sales & business management positions. In 2011, Karen was recognized by American Banker as “The Most Powerful Woman in Banking”. She has consistently been named in the publication’s “25 MPWIB” survey. In January, Karen was named Chairman of the Penn State University Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the Financial Services Roundtable, and is on the Board of Directors for SIFMA, PEFCO and SunCoke Energy. Karen is the immediate past Chair of the United Way of New York City Board. Karen is a graduate of Penn State University (B.S., 1977) and Johns Hopkins University (M.S., 1981). While at Penn State, she was a beneficiary of the Title IX legislation, earning a scholarship for her play on the varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams. In her senior year, she was given the Ernest B. McCoy Award, presented annually to the Penn State woman who combined successful athletic participation with academic excellence.


ALLEN CARL GUELZO - Class of 1971

Dr. Guelzo is one of the nation’s leading scholars on Abraham Lincoln and is recognized as a prominent expert on the Civil War, having appeared on numerous documentaries and interviews on various media such as CNN, not to mention copious speeches on the subject. A long time college professor, presently, he is the Henry Luce Professor of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. An author of several books on Lincoln and the Civil War, he became the first two-time winner of the Lincoln Prize and the Book Prize of the Lincoln Institute for an intellectual biography of Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America. He has been an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow, a Visiting Research Fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, a Fellow of the Charles Warren Center for the Study of American History at Harvard University and a Visiting Fellow, Department of Politics, Princeton University. And, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Council on the Humanities.


WAYNE GATTINELLA - Class of 1970

Mr. Wayne Gattinella has had an extraordinary career since graduating from Springfield High School in 1970. He has been very successful as an entrepreneur with start- up companies as well as an executive of a large corporation. He is currently a Principal at Highline Advisory Group, a consulting organization in New York City that works with emerging companies in the information technology and digital communications industry. Formerly, he was Chief Executive Officer of WebMD, the leading provider of health information services for millions of consumers on the internet. Wayne was instrumental in leading the successful evolution of WebMD since it was taken public as a company in 2005. The internet world can change in an instant and only the strong and well managed companies survive as WebMD has, while providing an invaluable service to consumer and professionals. After graduating from SHS, Wayne earned a B.S. in Marketing and Finance from Drexel University and went on to get his M.B.A. from St. Joseph’s University. He has spent time in his working career at companies ranging from People PC, Merck-Medco and ten years at MCI. While at MCI, he led consumer product development, sales and marketing for the long distance telephone service provider. Mr. Gattinella is presently on the Board of Directors of Drexel University as he provides his leadership and management skills to his alma mater. I had the honor of serving on the Springfield Board of School Directors with Wayne’s dad, Wally. There was never a finer gentleman that I have had the pleasure of knowing, and I am not surprised Wayne has had such a wonderful career, given his father’s positive influence.


MICHAEL W. MICHELSON - Class of 1969

Michael (Mike) Michelson is currently Co-head of the North American Private Equity business of Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in Menlo Park, California as well as part-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles National Football League franchise. Mike's box at Lincoln Financial Field is named Springfield Max, Ltd. which honors his Dad, Max, with whom he watched many Eagles games together while growing up in Springfield and attending Springfield schools. He has an A.B., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Mike began his career with the law firm of Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles, after which he launched his remarkably successful business and philanthropic career. Mike and his wife Ellen lead the Michelson Family Foundation which has donated millions of dollars since 1991 to promote healthy and successful outcomes for low-income, underserved children, youth and adults in both the San Francisco area and the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The primary areas of focus of the Michelson Foundation are Performing Arts Education Programs that expose children and youth to performing arts and link arts-based education with academic achievement and Adult Residential Mental Health Programs that provide services to help clients regain independent living.


PHYLLIS RUNDBAKEN STREITEL - Class of 1969

The Honorable Phyllis Rundbaken Streitel is in her eleventh year as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Judge Streitel was a lawyer for 25 years before her election to the bench. Phyllis graduated from SHS in 1969. In 1972 she graduated with honors from Syracuse University, and in 1976 she graduated from Capital University Law School. One of seven women in a class of ninety, Phyllis was at the forefront of change for women in the law. Hired at age 25 as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio, Phyllis earned the respect of her clients and fellow attorneys by her hard work and knowledge of the law. She was the first "lady lawyer" to appear in many courtrooms across Ohio. In 1980, Phyllis moved with her family to West Chester, Pennsylvania. Hired as an Assistant District Attorney in West Chester, she prosecuted cases and handled appeals in the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme courts. She was one of sixty lawyers selected nationally to attend an appellate advocacy seminar hosted by the United States Supreme Court. Phyllis entered private practice in 1986. She was later appointed to serve as a family court master. A respected master in the family law area, Phyllis lectured at various bar programs and educational seminars. She also co-founded a chapter of the American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to scholarship, ethics, and civility in the legal profession. Elected to the bench in 2001, Judge Streitel sits in criminal court and drug court and has also served in civil and family court. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. Phyllis and her husband reside in Westtown and have three grown children and one grandchild.


STEVEN WINN - Class of 1969

Steven Winn is an award-winning arts journalist and fiction writer. A longtime staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, he has held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in fiction at Stanford University and received two-first place Excellence in Writing Awards from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. Winn spent years as the Theater Critic at the Chronicle and was the paper's Arts and Culture Critic from 2002-2008. Winn is the author of Come Back, Como: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog. Winn has appeared on 20/20, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, A&E Biography, and numerous radio programs. He has conducted onstage interviews for San Francisco's City Arts & Lectures series, which is heard nationally on National Public Radio. Steve Martin and John Updike are among those Winn has interviewed. Winn is also the co-author of Ted Bundy: The Killer Next Door and Great Performances: A Celebration. His essays have appeared in Good Housekeeping and Parents, and in such newspapers as the Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Seattle Times. His fiction has been published in the Carolina Quarterly, Colorado Review, Indiana Review and National Lampoon. His poems have appeared in the Florida Review, Prairie Schooner and Southern Poetry Review. He was a founding staff member of the Seattle Weekly and has written for AARP magazine, the New York Times, and Sports Illustrated. Mr. Winn is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1973) and the University of Washington (M.A., 1975).


JOHN C. FALCONE - Class of 1968

Mr. John Falcone is the perfect example of an American Patriot who has achieved great success in every aspect of his life. From family, to community, to business, John has done it all and done it well, he is a true role model for everyone. John was in the class of 1968 at Springfield High School. John was a wonderful athlete and a lot of fun to be around. However, John chose to not graduate from Springfield with his class but instead enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight for his country in the Vietnam War. John served his time in the service with distinction and returned home to Springfield. He then started a plumbing company, Falcone and Truman, which has grown into a widely respected, multi-million dollar enterprise with operations up and down the east coast. John has remained very active in the Springfield community, while raising his lovely family. John was a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Springfield Area Educational Foundation and has been extraordinarily generous with his time and contributions. He has contributed to several athletic programs, to the fund used to pay for the lights on the varsity stadium field, and to the recently acquired new band uniforms for the SHS Cougar Marching Band. John was presented with his Springfield High School graduation diploma last year during a moving ceremony. A recently passed law in the Commonwealth allowed school districts to award diplomas to former students who left high school to serve their country. There is no one more deserving of this honor than John, a true patriot, a Cougar to the core, a successful businessman and a generous benefactor to the Springfield School District.


GEOFF PETRIE - Class of 1966

Most people know about Geoff’s basketball successes including being named the Daily Times Player of the Century, an excellent career at Princeton University, and being named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1971, but that was just the beginning for Geoff. After leaving the NBA he successfully worked in the private sector, but the basketball world proved to be in his blood and he returned to the Portland Trailblazers commencing as a radio commentator and working his way up to senior vice president for operations. From there he went on to the Sacramento Kings where he has been president of basketball operations for the past eighteen years. As a basketball executive, he was twice awarded the NBA Executive of the Year Award.


BOB EDGAR - Class of 1961

Robert Edgar received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College, and a Master of Divinity degree from the Theological School of Drew University. He holds four honorary doctoral degrees. From 1971-1974, he served as United Protestant Chaplain of Drexel University in Philadelphia. In 1974, He was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975-January 3, 1987). In Congress, he led efforts to improve public transportation, authored the community Right to Know provisions of Super Fund legislation, co-authored the new GI bill for the all-volunteer service, fought wasteful water projects and supported environmental goals. He served as chair of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future and as a member of the Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and President John F. Kennedy. In 1987, true to his belief in term limits, he voluntarily stepped down from office. His wide-ranging career has also included pastorates at United Methodist congregations and stints as a teacher, college chaplain, community organizer, and director of a think tank on national security issues. An active volunteer, Dr. Edgar serves on the boards of several organizations, including Independent Sector, the National Coalition for Health Care, Common Cause, and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. He served as president of Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California from 1990-2000. During that decade, he brought a school on the brink of collapse back to institutional health, confirming his reputation as an optimist, a futurist, and a coalition builder who enjoys meeting a challenge. In 2000, Bob Edgar became general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, the leading U.S. organization in the movement for Christian unity. Thirty-five Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historically African-American and peace communions, to which approximately 45 million congregants belong, work together in the Council to promote unity and to serve churches and people worldwide. Currently, Bob Edgar serves as President and CEO of Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit “citizens’ lobby” with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and accountable. Many national organizations have recognized his work on major initiatives in the areas of overcoming poverty, protecting the environment, fostering interfaith understanding, and building international peace.


WILLIAM C. LEE - Class of 1960

Dr. Bill Lee is deserving of the title of Mr. Springfield, certainly as much as anyone in this wonderful community. Bill graduated from Springfield High School in 1960 after making significant contributions to the football team, the track team as its captain, the national Thespian Society, the National Honor Society for two years, and the lead in his senior class play. Bill attended Dickinson College, the University of Pennsylvania for pre-dental and completed his Doctorate at Temple University in 1967. After serving in the US Navy as a dentist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, Bill returned to Springfield to start his own dental practice with his mom as his assistant. He has built his practice into “Lee Dental Associates” with four dentists, six hygienists and ten office workers. Bill has provided complimentary dental service to the children of Springfield School District since 1987 as a service to the community. He has served for years as a member of the Springfield Rotary Club and was president for a term. He has been an active member of First Presbyterian Church and served in every leadership position available. Dr. Lee has been a huge contributor to his community while earning dental awards such as being named by “Main Line Today” as “Top General Dentist” and being listed in the “Guide to America’s Top Dentists”. More importantly, Bill and his wife Diane have been wonderful parents to their three children and grandparents to six grandchildren.


STEVE SKINNER - Class of 1958

Steve Skinner was a pretty fair basketball player at Springfield High School in the 1957-1958 seasons. Many who knew him predicted he would go on to great things but little did they know just how great Steve’s achievements would be. After graduating from Bucknell University in 1962, he served two tours in Vietnam in the U.S. Navy. He chose to pursue a career in television news and he rapidly ascended to one of the top jobs in broadcast journalism as executive producer of ABC Evening News. He won nine Emmy Awards for producing, writing or directing television programs. He won the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Journalism for his work on the documentary, Willowbrook, which exposed the sorry conditions in a warehouse-like hospital in New York for children with disabilities. His journalism duties took him all across the United States and around the world. Some of the stories he covered in his illustrious career include five nominating conventions for U.S. Presidents in 1972, both parties in 1976, 1980, and 1984. He was in Iran after the embassy staff was taken hostage in1979. He covered the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the fall of the Samoza regime in Nicaragua. He covered five Olympiads including Los Angeles in 1984 where he won two Emmy’s for individual sports journalism. Steve retired in 1999 and presently lives in California. He and his wife Babbs have three children. His son Kevin is a sports broadcaster who travels the world, like his Dad.

 


JOANNE LLOYD SILVER - Class of 1956

Joanne Lloyd Silver attended the University of Pennsylvania and West Chester University where she earned her Master’s Degree and Spanish certification. She received a Foreign Language Supervisory certification from Penn State Graduate School. She has studied in Paris and Normandy, France. Joanne taught in Great Valley and West Chester before teaching French in Downingtown for 28 years, retiring in 2001. She received the Chapter Officer Award from the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) in 2011 after serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia Chapter. She’s a founding member of the Lyceum Club of Philadelphia, an organization for women interested in the arts, sciences, social concerns and the pursuit of lifelong learning. After retirement, she formed her own publishing company, Beach Lloyd Publishers, LLC, naming it for her father, a Navy medic who survived the landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day). Her focus is publishing and importing pedagogical materials in French and English, especially survivors’ testimonies from WWII from France and Belgium. She has published study guides in French and English, a booklet and CD with 19 French songs of WWII, as well as questions and activities for her books for educators. The highlight of her career came on April 30, 2009, when the French Government named her Chevalier dans I’Ordre des Palmes academiques awarding her “The Palmes,” a decoration established in 1808 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is one of the world’s oldest civil awards and recognizes outstanding scholarship and achievement in the promotion of French culture and language. It was awarded to Joanne by the Ambassador of France.


BILL CARPENTER - Class of 1955

The name Bill Carpenter may initially trigger a recall of a vision on West Point’s innovative Lonely End, or Lonesome End, depending upon who you are, and Bill’s selection to the College Football Hall of Fame and the West Point Sports Hall of Fame. But if that’s all you remember, you’ve missed the bulk of who the man really is. No doubt attending the storied United States Military Academy shaped his leadership qualities, partially as captain of a nationally ranked football team, but mostly through four years of association with an institution that produced legendary military leaders and presidents. After his graduation from West Point in 1960, Carpenter served his country proudly in multiple tours in Vietnam, earning the nation’s highest military honors for gallantry and service. A Purple Heart recipient, he also earned the Silver Star in 1964, and in 1966, he was awarded an even more prestigious medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. Throughout his years in the United States Army, Bill served on several military bases, some as commanding officer. Included was service as Brigade Commander, Assistant Division Commander, Division Commander, Command of the 10th Mountain Division, and ultimately Commander of the U.S. Army Field Forces in Korea. His rank when he retired was Lt. General. As a Three Star General he was asked frequently to return to Korea, in retirement, to serve as an advisor. Bill Carpenter spent a lifetime in uniform, first as part of sports beginning here at Springfield, and later at West Point. After graduation, he switched uniforms to that of an infantry soldier. Whether leading a team downfield for a score or leading men into combat, he has done so with great skill, courage and extraordinary leadership. His lifetime of superior achievement deserves our recognition and our gratitude.