The CHS Alumni Hall of Fame

AACHS Hall of Fame Admission Standards and Procedures

Any person, living or deceased, who attended the Central High School of Philadelphia, and who has attained the consummate degree of success/recognition in a chosen field of endeavor, and whose character serves as a role model for students, is eligible for admission.

Prospective candidates may be nominated by any member of the Central community. A curriculum vitae and any additional supporting documents shall be submitted to the Hall of Fame Committee, which will submit a list of recommended candidates to the Board of Managers. The affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Board of Managers in attendance at a duly scheduled meeting shall be required for each candidate’s nomination to the Hall of Fame.

All approved candidates will be inducted at an award ceremony on a date to be determined by the AACHS. All living nominees shall be required to attend the induction ceremony, and are expected to visit the school to address the student body within the time frame of the award ceremony. At the discretion of the Hall of Fame Committee these requirements may be waived in the event of extenuating circumstances that would preclude such attendance.

An inductee can subsequently be removed if it is determined that he/she no longer meets the standards for admission. If the Hall of Fame Committee recommends removal, the Board will consider the issue at an initial meeting and then vote at its next meeting. Upon request of any board member, a removal motion shall be considered upon secret ballot. A two-thirds majority is required for passage. A living person who has been removed from the Hall of Fame shall be notified in writing by the president of AACHS. In the event of removal of a deceased person, the president shall attempt to inform an heir or surviving family member of the Board’s decision.
(updated: 3/2022)

Members of the Central High School Hall of Fame

Inducted 9/15/73

Monsignor William Lallou (103) Religious Leader
Louis Kahn (134) Architect
Dr. William H. Cornog (146) Educator
Leroy K. Young, MD (155) Physician
Seymour Kety, MD (158) Physiologist
J. Paul Lyet (164) Industrialist
Samuel Dash, Esq. (178) Legal Scholar
Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. (186) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jerome Lowenthal (192) Pianist

Inducted 10/30/76

Dr. Joseph S. Hepburn (108) Chemist, Historian
John F. Harbeson (111) Architect
Robert B. Carney (118) Admiral, USN
Alexander Kendrick (149) Journalist
Edward W. Barankin (168) Physicist
Judge Charles R. Weiner (174) Jurist
Norman Fell (176) Actor
Bernard Wolfman, Esq. (176) Legal Scholar
Dr. D. Walter Cohen (181) Dentist, Educator
Arnold Roth (186) Humorist
Dr. Howard M. Temin (196) Nobel Laureate
Edwin Weinberger (204) Writer, Television Producer

Inducted 6/8/78

Leon J. Obermayer, Esq. (109) Attorney

Inducted 6/7/79

Judge Leo Weinrott (121) Jurist

Inducted 11/13/79

Bernard G. Segal, Esq. (149) International Attorney
David Raksin (153) Composer
Alvin Benedict (176) Hotelier
Melvin B. Zisfein (181) Deputy Director, National Air & Space Museum
Eugene H. Rotberg (188) International Banker

Inducted 6/10/82

William B. Curry, Sr. (125) Corresponding Secretary, AACHS

Inducted 4/9/86

Arthur Tracy (130) “The Street Singer”
Dr. Howard Carlisle (162) Educator
Shelly Gross (170) Theatrical Producer, Author
Lee Guber (170) Theatrical Producer
Leonard S. Dreifus, MD (177) Physician
Solomon Kal Rudman (188) Radio and Television Pioneer, Publisher, Philanthropist
Bernard M. Kauderer (192) Vice Admiral, U.S.N.
Judge Edward R. Becker (194) Jurist

Inducted 10/5/88

Dr. I.M. Levitt (146) Director Emeritus, Fels Planetarium
Bernard Bell (150) Former Vice President, World Bank
Alvan R. Feinstein, MD (177) Professor of Medicine, Yale University
Ralph Sanders (183) Professor Emeritus, National Defense University
Anthony P. Monaco, MD (191) Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Henry David Abraham, MD (214) Co-recipient, 1985 Nobel Peace Prize
Lee Eisenberg (221) Editor-in-Chief, Esquire Magazine

Inducted 12/3/92

Edward N. Polisher, Esq. (132) Attorney, Philanthropist
William J. Harvey III (156) Religious Leader
John Macionis (160) Olympic Silver Medal Swimming
James Bagian, MD, PE (228) Physician, Astronaut

Inducted 2/8/95

Isadore Brodsky, MD (189) Medical Scholar and Inventor
Richard J. Wurtman, MD (199) Physician and Researcher

Inducted 3/18/98

Paul J. Fink, MD (189) Psychiatrist
Dr. Joel N. Myers (208) Meteorologist
Conrad C. Lautenbacher (213) Vice Admiral, U.S.N.

Inducted 3/16/00

Andrew Weil, MD (212) Author, Proponent of Integrative Medicine

Inducted 10/16/01

Dr. Robert H. Page, PE (183) Professor Emeritus, Mechanical Engineering
Joseph Smukler. Esq. (185) Attorney, Philanthropist, Humanitarian
Allen P. Rosenberg, Esq. (192) Attorney, Lecturer, Member U.S. Olympic Committee
Charles Joseph Epstein, MD (196) Professor of Pediatrics, Geneticist
James DePreist (202) Orchestral Conductor & Music Director
Teller (Raymond Joseph) (224) Entertainer, Penn & Teller

Inducted 10/19/06

Benjamin Ostrofsky, PhD (177) Engineer, Fellow Society of Logistic Engineers
Bernard M. Wagner, MD (182) Pioneer in Toxicologic Pathology
Richard J. Fox (184) Real estate developer
Robert A. Fox (188) Investor
A. Eugene Kohn, FAIA, RIBA, JIA (190) Architect
Howard Gittis, Esq. (197) Attorney
Barry B. Goldberg, MD (204) Director, Ultrasound Research and Education Institute
Stephen J. Harmelin, Esq. (206) Attorney
Richard S. Sokolov, Esq. (226) International Real Estate Developer

Inducted 10/15/09

William H. Brown III, Esq. (185) Attorney
Bernard Spain (198) Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Hon. Lawrence S. Margolis (199) Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Federal Claims
George Campbell, PhD (220) President, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Ralph Schlosstein (227) Co-founder BlackRock, Inc.
Cato T. Laurencin, MD (235) Physician, Engineer, Researcher
Carlton J. Young, MD (238) Transplant Surgeon

Inducted Posthumously 10/15/09

Thomas Eakins (38) Artist, Photographer, Sculptor
Daniel Guggenheim (66) Industrialist, Philanthropist
Samuel S. Fels (72) Manufacturer, Philanthropist, Donor of Fels Planetarium
Simon Guggenheim (87) Industrialist, Philanthropist, U.S, Senator (Colorado)
Albert C. Barnes, MD (92) Physician, Chemist, Art Collector
Alain Leroy Locke (107) Author, Philosopher, Rhodes Scholar
John Baxter Taylor, Jr. (107) Olympic Gold Medalist (1908), first African American Gold Medalist
Ed Wynn (110) Comedian, Theatrical Producer
Larry Fine (132) Comedian, one of “The Three Stooges”

Inducted Posthumously 3/12/11

Simon Gratz (18) Educator, Founder P.A.F.A
John F. Sloan (92) Artist, Co-founder of the Ashcan School
William J. Glackens (92) Artist, Co-founder of the Ashcan School
Ralph T. Reed (128) CEO American Express
Charles H. Goren (132) Bridge Expert and Author

Inducted 10/27/11

Walter P. Lomax, Jr., MD (192) Physician, Healthcare Management
Phillip Frost, MD (200) Physician, Pharmaceuticals, Philanthropist
Barry R. Bloom, PhD (202) Infectious Disease Scientist, WHO
Edwin M. Epstein (202) Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley
Alan P. Wolfe, PhD (213) Author, Professor Political Science Boston College
Richard P. Silverman, PhD (221) Chemistry Professor Northwestern University, Researcher, Inventor of Lyrica
Charles R. Bridges, MD, ScD (232) Physician, Professor, Cardiovascular Surgery Pioneer
Betty W. Liu (250) Financial Journalist, TV Anchor
Quiara Alegria Hudes (254) Playwright, Librettist and Author

Inducted 10/29/2015

James G. Barnwell (16) (deceased 1850) served as librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin; teacher, school principal and founder of the Mary Gaston Barnwell Foundation
Ellis A. Gimbel (79) (deceased 1950) businessman and philanthropist, chairman of the board of the Gimbel Brothers Department store chain
David Pincus (181) (deceased) chairman of Pincus Brothers-Maxwell, Philadelphia’s largest clothing manufacturer and a renowned philanthropist for world-wide causes.
Joseph M.Field (192) founder of Entercom Communications Corporation, violinist, philanthropist
John J.Cebra (198) (deceased) established a lab in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Florida and studied immunoglobulins, being credited with discovering the important functions of IgA and its role in antibody production
Richard Grossman (204) (deceased 1992) jazz musician
Leo Braudy (211) professor, author, expert in restoration literature and one of America’s leading film critics
Marvin Samson (211) entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Samson Medical Technologies; chairman of the board of trustees of the Franklin Institute
Jed S.Rakoff (214) U. S. District judge for the Southern District of New York
Arthur Shapiro (220) professor of zoology at the University of California, fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Ralph Horwitz (223) senior vice president for Clinical Evaluation Sciences and senior adviser to the chairman of research &; development for GlaxoSmithKline; professor emeritus of medicine and epidemiology at Yale University
Arnold M. Eisen (228) chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Jewish studies scholar in the sociology of religion
Neil R. Powe (231) chief of medical services at San Francisco General Hospital and the Constance B.Wofsy distinguished professor and vice-chairman of medicine,University of California,San Francisco.
Eric Owens (247) Grammy-winning bass-baritone opera singer

Inducted Posthumously 6/5/18

Elihu Thomson (55) founded the General Electric Company with Edwin Houston (43) and Thomas Edison
Leo Stanton Rowe (88) Director General, Organization of American States, 1920-1946
Albert Giasecke (107) a prime mover in the discovery and excavation of Machu Picchu
Raymond Pace Alexander (127) first African-American Judge (Phila Court of Common Pleas), anti-segregation crusader
Robert Serber (146) worked with Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project
Hilary Putnam (182) was a major contributor to the field of Analytic Philosophy
Richard Teitelman (223) served as Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court

Inducted 10/17/2018

Herman Rush (187) entertainment executive, former chairman Columbia Pictures
Albert Fishlow Ph.D, (199) economics professor emeritus, Columbia University
Marvin Corman, M.D., (208) author of the gold standard textbook on colon and rectal surgery
David Soll, Ph.D (213) cancer research innovator and microbiologist
Lee Felsenstein (219) developed the first mass produced portable computer
Neal Kassell M.D., (221) pioneer in the development of high intensity focused ultrasound
Marc Brickman (229) world renowned lighting and production designer
Philip Freelon (230) lead architect, Smithsonian National Museum of Africa American History and Culture

Inducted 10/19/2022

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz (255) New York Times bestselling nonfiction writer and poet
Shawn Gee (248) music and entertainment industry leader
Major Jackson (245) poet and author of five collections of poetry
Hankus Netsky (231) musician, composer, conservatory leader, musicologist
Larry Sklar (225) physician and inventor of new medical technologies
James Warren Taubman (190) comic book publisher
Stephen Werblun (229) renowned courtroom artist

Inducted Posthumously 10/18/2023

Sgt. George Mitchell (196) Tuskegee Airman/Congressional Gold Medal Awardee
Dr. Leonard Finkelstein (185) Educator
Billy Wilson (199) Renowned Dancer and Playwright
Robert Spivak (202) President of Maccabi USA
Clark Polak (204) Publisher/LGBT Activist
Eric “Rick” Hammel (221) Author
Earl Harvey (231) Publisher/Mentor to African American Businesses