The CHS Alumni Hall of Fame
Click below to access the online Hall of Fame kiosk with information about our esteemed members of the CHS Alumni Hall of Fame. You can also view this slideshow in-person at Central High, where visitors can use the touch screen to learn more about the recipients.
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
- Hon. Michele Hangley (243) One of the first women to attend Central and Judge of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
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