Distinguished Alumni Award Induction

The Bensalem Distinguished Alumni Award Committee in conjunction with The Bensalem Education Foundation will host their 3rd induction of Bensalem High School Distinguished Alumni on April 18, 2020. A new date will be set in the future.

See below to learn about the 2020 nominees:

Rev. Paul Munford, ’68: founded the New Joy Baptist Church, Riverside, CA; through fundraising, built permanent structure for the New Joy Baptist Church; received Black Voice Newspaper Community Builder Award; Awarded NAACP Religious Award; received Riverside City Council, Mayor’s Appreciation, and Riverside Historical Award.

Stephen Wurst, VMD, ’68: VMD from University of Pennsylvania school of Veterinary Medicine; founded the Barnegat Animal Clinic in 1984; Veterinary practice in NJ expanded to eight doctor practice; worked on the Osprey Project and Golden Hearts Retriever Rescue Organization; contributed to the Peregrine Falcon project of NJ; steward of all animals, both wild and domestic.

Steve Nolan, ’70: Directed Department of Veterans’ Affairs PTSD Clinic in FL for five years; received four Meritorious Service Medals for service in Afghanistan; received Commanding General’s Leadership Award for 4^th Infantry Division; authored poetry collections Go Deep and Base Camp; featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition; 2007 Chief of Combat Stress for Paktika Province, Afghanistan.

Dr. Robert Stinger, ’71: Section Chief of Orthopaedic Trauma and Adult Joint and Reconstructive Surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital; BS Penn State, MD/PhD Georgetown; graduated Magna Cum Laude with an MBA from Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University; collaborated and published with a Nobel Laureate Elias J. Corey.

Mark Blaszczyk, ‘76: Corporal in the Bensalem Township Police Department; served on the Bucks County Drug Task Force and elite Bensalem SWAT team; received awards for Extensive Undercover Operations and Distinguished Valor from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office for his work with the Bucks County Drug Task Force; is a two-time recipient of The Lifesaving Award; served in the Bensalem Accident Investigation Unit and Bensalem Township Police Honor Guard; is a founding member of the Neshaminy Valley Town Watch and volunteer firefighter with the Newport Fire Company.

Russell F. Jones, Jr. ’76: Nationally recognized safety and security expert; managed and coordinated the safety and security platforms for many large hospitals and universities; awarded the International Association Hospital Security and Safety Medal of Distinction; authored numerous articles and books on public safety and security.

Ellen Voorhees '76: Researcher in information retrieval, the science that underpins search engines; inventor on three US patents; Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery and the Washington Academy of Sciences; author of numerous papers on information retrieval and natural language processing.

Theresa Grafenstine, ’87: was the first female and longest serving Inspector General of the United States House of Representatives; served as the Global Chair of ISACA, only the 2^nd woman in 50 years to be elected to this role; recognized as one of the “Top Ten Audit Thought Leaders of the Decade.”  She is a leader in the international cybersecurity audit profession.  She has helped to advance the information technology, governance, internal auditing, and accounting professions; renowned as a leader in cybersecurity.

Letty Wright-Maxwell, ’88: NASA fellow and NASA Project STEM Manager/ Awarded three Congressional Black Caucus Awards in Leadership, Youth Empowerment and Teacher Distinction; Samsung STEM teacher in United Arab Emirates; helped establish EdOptions Virtual School in 2006; started Maxwell Family Foundation to provide graduating high school students with scholarships.

Sunshine Werbock O’Donnell, ‘89: Writer, Artist, and Educator; author of the novel Open Me, for which she was selected a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers novelist; an award winning essayist; a selected author in W.W. Norton’s The Best Creative Nonfiction Anthology; featured artist in several art exhibitions; featured artist on the Food Network; founder of The Coffeehouse Project, a mobile literacy classroom for underserved children; and author of Your Vacation on Planet Earth, a children’s mindfulness book.

Hari Sunny Notani '91: US Secret Service.  Leads investigations of high profile cyber and electronic crimes; spent six and a half years assigned to the Vice Presidential Protection Detail for VP Joseph Biden; frequently speaks on identity theft and internet fraud.