Nica Jurlando (285)

On October 29, 2025, eight Central High School alumni were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony and banquet, organized by the Associated Alumni of Central High School (AACHS), was held at the Rivers Casino along the Delaware River. Attendees included Central alumni, current student leaders and Central staff, and the inductees and their families, emceed by filmmaker Rel J. Dowdell (248). The event was supported with live music performed by current members of Central’s orchestra.

The ceremony started with a welcome and introductions from several members of the Central community. George Moses, Jr. (232), Chair of the Hall of Fame Committee, kicked off the introductions with a warm welcome, followed by a short speech by Robert A. Del Femine (235), AACHS Board President. Current Central president, President Katharine Davis (264), also spoke, along with Stephen Burnstein (222), past chair of the Hall of Fame Committee. Finally, emcee Dowdell took the stage to introduce each inductee as they were recognized.

The eight hall of fame inductees this year represented fields from music to tech development. They were an undeniably deserving group: Jerome S. Engel (222), educator and innovation expert; Robin Eubanks (231), jazz and jazz fusion slide trombonist; Richard F. America (205), author, educator, and economist; Richard Dunham (233), journalist, reporter, author, and professor; Dr. William L. Maxwell (197), professor of engineering and tech developer; David Oh, esq. (237), politician, lawyer, and veteran; Sharif Street, esq. (251), politician; and Marc Weingarten, esq. (226), lawyer and activist. Each inductee was awarded a certificate and an engraved glass bowl along with the induction.

Mr. America was “surprised, pleased, and honored” to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and added, “I love Central, it’s a great school. I want to see it get even stronger… [The Hall of Fame event] stimulates, motivates alumni and keeps us even more engaged and connected to the school, because there is a tendency to drift away, even at a school like Central.” Following his years at Central, Mr. America attended the Pennsylvania State University for his undergraduate studies, then Harvard Business School, receiving a master’s degree in Business Administration. Since retiring, he has used his experiences at Central and his work as an economist to advocate for more public school endowments such as the one Central receives. “Central has an endowment – that’s unusual for a public school. I’ve been trying… to promote the idea of endowments for public schools of every kind,” he stated. “Even if they are fully funded, as they should be with tax dollars, they should still have a private endowment… That’s a project of mine.” 

Mr. Dunham was in awe when he was alerted to his nomination to the Hall of Fame. “I’ve sort of viewed myself as a worker bee all my career, and to be on the list like that… It took a little while to wrap my mind around, but I was really, really honored,” he said. “I’ve won a lot of journalism awards over the years, but I think this means more than any of them because Central meant so much to me.” Mr. Dunham and his two brothers, both also Central alumni, were involved heavily in student journalism at Central – during his speech, Mr. Dunham told a story of a student reporter getting to interview the head coaches of the Philadelphia Eagles and 76ers while writing for the Centralizer. Additionally, the Dunham brothers have previously endowed the Dunham Brothers Scholarship to reward a Central student for outstanding journalism work. This devotion to journalism followed Mr. Dunham beyond his days at Central, and was one reason why his induction nomination was so significant: “To have a reporter who [is focused on bringing] facts to the people and to explain the world to the people, I think it’s really nice, and I think it rounds out the Hall of Fame… I sort of consider it a niche in the Hall of Fame,” he said. Mr. Dunham is passionate about the future of journalism, believing that young reporters are well-equipped to take over the discipline. 

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is an incredibly meaningful event in the Central High School community; while it was a perfect evening, it cannot be appreciated without recognizing the planning that went into it. Mr. Del Femine, who goes by “Del,” described planning the event as a “long, laborious process,” though he added that “honoring the past really helps propel the future,” noting the importance of the ceremony. “This hopefully gives hope to current students or the near-term graduates [who might realize], ‘we’ve got something really special here,’” Del said. He continued, “When I come and interact with Central students, I’m just amazed at the maturity, the humanity, the caring, and really just the intelligence that transfers into whatever they’re doing.” Mr. Horwits (251), Central Social Studies teacher and member of the AACHS Board of Managers, who assisted in planning, said, “It takes a lot – we’re trying to get as many people as we can to support our wonderful honorees… It’s always a lot of legwork, but at the end of the day [it’s] well worth it, and I think it was a tremendous event.”