Inaugural class of distinguished Norwin alumni announced

April 19--An Air Force colonel, a North Huntingdon policeman, a Library of Congress official, a decorated Navy jet fighter pilot, an internationally known cosmos researcher and a longtime educator are among 10 Norwin graduates to be selected to be the inaugural class of distinguished alumni.

The initial class of Norwin Distinguished Alumni, plus a distinguished friend of Norwin, will be honored at the Knight of Distinguished Alumni recognition dinner on May 25 at the Stratigos Banquet Centre, North Huntingdon.

The class was selected by seven members of the Norwin Friends and Alumni Association from a field of 17 nominees and based on a criteria of a person giving much to their community, said Jack Boylan, president of the Norwin School District Community Foundation.

"It was a very good field of candidates. They were all pretty wonderful," said Boylan, a former Norwin school superintendent.

The following are thumbnail sketches of the first class:

--Jeffrey Bouldin of North Huntingdon, class of 1974, is a detective sergeant in the township police department, where he has been an officer since 1979. He has taught Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes at Norwin from 1992 through 2007 and was named Pennsylvania D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year in 1995. He served on the Norwin Strategic Plan Committee in 1999 and 2001.

--Dina D'Alessandro Denning of North Huntingdon, class of 1979, has worked diligently with two community service groups, the Norwin Rotary Club and now the Norwin Lions Club, to help provide needy Norwin students with nutritious meals for the weekends with a Kitty Sack of food.

--John M. Duncan Jr. of North Huntingdon, class of 1979, has been president of the insurance division of Duncan Financial Group of Irwin, president of the Norwin Public Library Board and serves on the Norwin Chamber of Commerce board and the Norwin School District Community Foundation board. He is a member of Norwin Rotary and Irwin Lions Club. One of his passions is the Norwin Relay For Life, an American Cancer Society fundraiser.

--Richard L. Earnest of Del Mar, Calif., class of 1960, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964, where he played in the national championship football game against Texas in 1964. He was a jet fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, flying more than 300 combat missions and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. Earnest is a former mayor and councilman in Del Mar. He has served as CEO of two publicly traded software companies and founded two high-tech companies of his own.

--Victoria I. Holden of Hanover, N.H., class of 2007, is conducting postdoctoral research at Dartmouth College, where she is studying bacterial lung infections that predominantly affect cystic fibrosis patients. She graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in immunology and infectious disease. At Norwin, she was captain of the field hockey team and selected first team in Norwin's WPIAL section.

--Robert Perkins of North Huntingdon, class of 1972, has served on the Norwin School Board for 18 years and is its president. Perkins is a former president of the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department. He has been president and chief executive of PDS Industries of North Huntingdon since 1996.

--Colleen J. Shogan of Arlington, Va., class of 1993, is deputy director of national and international outreach at the Library of Congress and an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University. She previously was a policy staff member in the U.S. Senate. She was a graduate fellow at Yale University and wrote a book, "The Moral Rhetoric of American Presidents."

--Col. John D. Smith, class of 1987, is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and has served more than 26 years in the Air Force. He has a law degree from Duquesne University. In 2003, he was communications director for the Defense Department's Office of Military Commissions and was primary media spokesman on military commissions and the legal aspects of the global war on terrorism.

--Dr. David Turnshek of Irwin, class of 1973, is a professor of physics and anatomy at the University of Pittsburgh and director of the Allegheny Observatory since 2008. Turnshek is an internationally recognized researcher specializing in cosmology; his research focuses on studying galaxies and the phenomenon of quasars.

--Dr. Sharon Brown-Welty of La Quinta, Calif., class of 1969, has had a long career in higher education in a variety of positions. She was appointed dean of Cal State San Bernardino's Palm Desert campus in July 2014. She held several administrative positions at Fresno State before going to Cal State. She was the assistant provost, the associate provost and the assistant to the vice president for finance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She was inducted into the Rotary Education Hall of Fame in 2016 and was names its Outstanding Educator.

--Donald Kattic of North Huntingdon, Distinguished Friend of Norwin, taught history at Norwin High School for 35 years. As a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, he fought in the Korean War in 1952 and 1953. He was the former commander of the J. Howard Snyder Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 781 in North Huntingdon for more than 20 years. He has been active in community initiatives, working to collect and donate more than 1,000 soccer balls and 800 stuffed animals to Iraqi children. He was instrumental in the fundraising and restoration of the Veterans Memorial in front of the North Huntingdon Town House.

Each of the honored alums will get a plaque the night of the dinner and a plaque will be mounted on a wall across from the high school auditorium to create a "wall of fame," Boylan said.

Fundraising events will be held in conjunction with the dinner, Boylan said. The proceeds will be used to raise money for a $500 scholarship to a Norwin graduate.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.

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