Achievers Hall of Fame Inductees 2016
Dr. Brian P. Brennan - Class of 1990
Dr. Brian P. Brennan is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is the Medical Director of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Institute at McLean Hospital-- one of only three intensive residential treatment programs in the country focused on the treatment of patients with severe treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Following medical school, he completed an internship in internal medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital and psychiatry residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. He later received a Master’s degree in medical science from the combined Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Brennan serves as the Associate Director of Translational Neuroscience Research in the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory at McLean Hospital. The overarching theme of Dr. Brennan's research is the use of neuroimaging to better understand the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders as a means to develop novel treatments for these illnesses. Dr. Brennan's clinical and research work has led to grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, NARSAD, the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation, and the Stanley Medical Research Institute and receipt of the Outstanding Professional of the Year Award from the Boston Chapter of the Depression and Bipolar Disorder Support Alliance.
Geoffrey DeLizzio - Class of 1999
Geoffrey DeLizzio is the Chief Operating Officer of the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region. As COO, Geoff provides oversight for Disaster Relief, Service to the Armed Forces, International Services, Volunteer Engagement, Finance, Facilities and Fleet Management. In addition to direct management responsibilities, Geoff is involved in ongoing coordination with local, state, and federal partners with special emphasis on individual and community preparedness. He speaks nationally on emergency preparedness to community groups, businesses, and government partners.
Geoff previously served as Senior Director of the Inova Medical Group (IMG), Inova Health System’s multi-specialty physician group serving Northern Virginia. As a member of the IMG executive team, Geoff provided strategic planning, growth, and operational leadership for the division. During his tenure Geoff was selected as a member of an executive team that traveled to China to facilitate joint-venture hospital operation near Shanghai.
Geoff also served as Director of the InovaCares Clinic for Women and Children, which provided a full spectrum of pediatric and OB/GYN services to over 11,000 uninsured and Medicaid patients annually. Under his leadership, InovaCares received national recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Patient Centered Medical Home. Geoff also led the medical center’s design and implementation of a fully integrated and paperless Electronic Medical Record. He championed innovative approaches to increasing access to care such as introducing telemedicine patient visits and shared pediatric appointments.
Prior to arriving at Inova Health System, Geoff served as Executive Vice President for the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children. There he established and managed health centers in third and developing world countries including a flagship regional health center in Uganda licensed by the Ministry of Health. Geoff has consulted for a number of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
Professionally and personally, Geoff has lived in or traveled to over 50 countries on 4 continents. Geoff currently serves as Vice President of the Cascades Community Association in Northern Virginia and volunteers in his free time for the American Red Cross, Epilepsy Foundation, United Way and Loudoun County Beekeepers Association.
Geoff graduated with a degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business. Geoff resides in Potomac Falls, VA with his wife and son.
Dr. Jacquelyn M. Hickey - class of 1995
Dr. Jacquelyn M. Hickey is an assistant principal and athletic director at Valley Forge Middle School in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. Prior to serving at Valley Forge, she was the assistant principal at Tredyffrin/Easttown Middle School and a chemistry teacher, field hockey, and lacrosse coach at Conestoga High School. She has dedicated her career to education and serving students, staff, and families.
Jacqui attended Ursinus College as a Steinbright Scholar and graduated cum laude with majors in biology and chemistry in 1999. She continued her education at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2006 with a Master’s degree in chemistry education and was the class president. In 2008, she completed a Master’s degree in educational administration from Gwynedd-Mercy College. In 2015, she received her Doctor of Education degree after successfully defending her dissertation, "A Case Study of Two Suburban Local Education Foundations.
Jacqui is also dedicated to serving her community and the world around her. Since 1993, she has served as a volunteer with the Appalachia Service Project and is currently an ambassador for the organization. She was a big sister with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region and now serves on their alumni advisory board. She has completed five endurance events with Team in Training, a fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and she completed a multi-state bike ride to raise money for well drilling efforts in Africa. In 2012, she traveled to Liberia with Compassion Corps to provide teacher and leadership training workshops. She is a member of the SAEF Athletics Hall of Fame committee, an oboist with the Rose Tree Pops, and is active in other local church and community projects.
Jacqui is a very proud graduate of Springfield High School...just ask anyone she knows! While at SHS, she was the co-valedictorian, president of the National Honor Society, editor-in-chief of the Scrivener, co-captain of the field hockey and lacrosse teams, a district and regional band and orchestra participant, a student representative to the school board, and the Florence D. Scioscia Memorial Award winner. She currently lives in West Chester and is getting married in July, 2016.
J. George Sotter - class of 1956
J. George Sotter was born and raised in Pennsylvania, with five of those years in Springfield, leading to graduation from SHS. He then spent a year working in Philadelphia as a freight handler to save for college. He earned a B.S. in Fuel Science (With Distinction) from Penn State, together with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He then earned a Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield in England, where he discovered the vortex flow mechanism that had caused some large U.S. rockets to veer off course and explode.
He spent his active military duty with the U.S. Army's NASA element at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, conducting research on the Apollo Service Module rocket engine. He became a Captain in the Army before leaving active duty. George then entered private industry as a combustion specialist with an aerospace company, remaining in southern California permanently. He published an article on resonant combustion in rockets in Scientific American magazine.
Sotter is a California state-registered Professional Engineer. He became a consultant in air pollution control when that became a hot topic in the early 1970's, and decades later transitioned primarily into safety—specifically the prevention of slip and fall accidents. George founded Sotter Engineering Corporation in 1987, dedicated to using science and technology to make life better for people worldwide. He is Chair of Ceramic Tile Institute of America's Slip Resistance Committee. He holds two U.S. patents, and has made a specialty of applying foreign technologies in the USA.
George published the book, STOP Slip and Fall Accidents!, and has authored well over 100 papers and articles, including many in international symposia and technical archive journals.
He has traveled for business or pleasure to some 40 countries on five continents. He and his wife of 50 years have a daughter in Colorado and a son who joined the family firm in California.
Dr. Andrew Weber - class of 1979
Dr. Andrew Weberattended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated Magna cum Laude in 1983. He then attended Temple University School of Medicine graduated with Honors in 1987 before starting his surgical internship at York Hospital in 1988. He started his radiology residency and Interventional radiology fellowship at Duke University in 1988, serving as Chief Resident in 1991.
Dr. Weber has been a partner with Raleigh Radiology Associates since 1992, serving as Chief Radiologist of Rex/UNC Healthcare from 1996-2001. He also served as the chairman for the Rex Hospital opening. He created the Weber Endowment for Lymphoma Care through Rex Foundation with his sister Christine (SHS 1979).
Dr. Weber lives in North Carolina with his wife Karen Stolar Weber (SHS 1979).