Foundation to recognize ‘stellar’ inductees
Jes Hutson, committee member for the Laurel Highlands High School Academic Foundation, referred to this year’s class of inductees as “stellar.”
Friday and Saturday marks the foundation’s hall of fame, where 10 inductees will become a part of the Laurel Highlands Life Achievement Hall of Fame.
Each year, the foundation recognizes seven to eight Laurel Highlands graduates, but because it recognized only five last year, the committee decided to honor 10 people.
The following will be honored before Laurel Highlands football game on Friday and then will be inducted at 8:30 a.m. at the Uniontown Holiday Inn Saturday.
n Dr. Garret Breakiron, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1970, received his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University and his master’s degree from Marshall University. Following a three-year teaching career in Phoenixville, Breakiron entered Palmer College of Chiropractic and received his doctorate degree in 1984. He opened the Uniontown Chiropractic Center in 1984 and has one of the largest chiropractic centers in the state of Pennsylvania. Along with donating his salaries back to the athletic department, Breakiron has given back to LH by spearheading the construction of the Laurel Highlands wrestling room at no cost to the district.
n Janet L. Deal, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1982, also graduated magna cum laude in accounting from West Virginia University and then went on to receive a juris doctorate degree with Certification in Healthcare Law from the University of Maryland. Deal is currently a certified public accountant, along with being an attorney in healthcare law.
Deal’s experience includes 24 years in accounting, 16 years in for-profit and non-profit healthcare, along with three years of legal experience with mid-to-large law firms. Deal is currently the chief financial officer of Mosaic Community Services, Inc., in Timonium, Maryland.
n Tonya Hurley, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1988, studied writing, music and film-making at The University of Pittsburgh, screenwriting at New York University, and stop motion animation at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Hurley is a writer and director in film, television, live performance and interactive media, and is a New York Times bestselling author of the book series Ghostgirl. She has written and directed several acclaimed independent films, which have been selected for film festivals around the world and have also been broadcast on ABC, PBS and IFC. Hurley was nominated for the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Award in Film and made the semi-finals of the Sundance Institute’s Writer’s Lab with her feature film script.
n Dr. Bruce King, a 1981 graduate of Laurel Highlands High School received abachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry and pharmaceutical science from West Virginia University and received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Cornell University. Following a post doctoral fellowship at the Scripps Research Institute, he joined the faculty in the Wake Forest University Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor and worked his way up through the ranks to full professor. King has taught organic and biochemistry to undergraduate students at Wake Forest for the past 19 years. Over his research career, he has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and two book chapters that have been cited more than 2,000 times, while receiving over $3.5 million in external support for his projects.
n Dr. Chuck Mihaliak, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1978, received a bachelor’s degree in biology from California State College, which is now known as California University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of South Carolina. After graduate school, he conducted post-doctoral research at the Institute of Biological Chemistry at Washington State University. Mihaliak has worked for more than 20 years to develop agricultural solutions for farmers and food producers worldwide. He led safety testing efforts to obtain worldwide regulatory approvals of genetically engineered corn and cotton products. He also led teams to create vaccines against West Nile Virus, Avian Influenza and other diseases using cutting edge biotechnology systems. Mihaliak is currently a Global R&D Portfolio Management Excellence Leader with Syngenta.
n Richard A. Miller, a 1969 graduate of Laurel Highlands High School, enlisted in the First U.S. Army Band at Fort Meade, Maryland, where he served as conductor and music arranger for their 20-piece show band. After serving in the military, Miller graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in music education, and then moved to attend the University of North Texas. For 16 years, he served as chief music arrranger for the North Texas Marching Band. He established his own business, R. A. Miller Music, providing freelance, custom music arranging services and marching band show consultation for more than 300 high school and college bands around the country. Miller is currently the bandmaster/arranger for the Pennsylvania State Veterans of Foreign Wars Band.
n Dr. John Pensock, a 1984 graduate of Laurel Highlands High School, began his undergraduate studies at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, and graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in chemistry. He also attended graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, and in 1995, Pensock graduated as a medical doctor from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Pensock has served as an invasive and interventional cardiologist with Donohue and Allen Cardiology in Washington and UPMC, Inc. He practices at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Shadyside Campus, and The Washington Hospital, where he specializes in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine.
n Major General Jeffrey A. Rockwell, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1980, also graduated summa cum laude with a degree in accounting from West Virginia University, where he also received a juris doctorate degree. Rockwell, the current deputy judge advocate general at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., assists in the professional oversight of more than 2,200 judge advocates, 350 civilian attorneys, 1,400 enlisted paralegals and 500 civilians assigned worldwide. He has written about several national security law matters, advancing Department of Defense and United States government interests on a variety of topics. Some of Rockwell’s awards and decorations include: Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Department of State Meritorious Honor Award, Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters and an Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.
n Dr. Vaishali Dixit Schuchert, MD, who graduated from Laurel Highlands in 1986, also graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and went to medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated in the National Honor Society for Medical Schools, while winning the Stephen Behan Prize in surgery. Schuchert completed her internship and residency in general surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, where she won the Surgical Infection Society Fellowship Award in Surgical Critical Care. Schuchert was hired as the first female trauma/critical care surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Schuchert serves on the Resident and Education Committee with the Department of Surgery, as well as serving on the Education Committee with the Department of Critical Care Medicine.
n Joan Kois Woodward, a 1983 graduate of Laurel Highlands, has degrees in economics and political science, along with a master’s degree in public administration, all from American University. She is currently executive vice-president of Public Policy for Travelers and is also President of The Travelers Institute. Woodward joined Travelers in 2008 from Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she was the founding executive director of the company’s Global Markets Institute. Woodward was appointed to the President’s national Small and Medium Enterprise Export Council. She is also a recipient of the 2009-2010 David Rockefeller Fellowship.
For tickets to the banquet, please visit the Laurel Highlands School District website at www.lhsd.org. For more information, please contact Dawn Walker at 304-642-3670 or Jes Hutson at jeh20@psu.edu.