The Class of 2023

Mark Gorman
PHS Class of 1978
Mark credits his accomplishments to his supportive family and close circle of friends. Some stubborn independence also helped.  The summer after high school graduation, while working for a local roofing company, Mark suffered a life-changing injury when he fell off a roof resulting in burns and an L1 spinal injury with paralysis.  Overcoming obstacles, he continued his education and earned a BS degree from Wright State University, followed by Northwestern Medical School where he became a Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist (CPO). For 30 years he has helped many needing various braces and artificial limbs in a center that he co-founded in 1993, Morgantown Orthotic and Prosthetic Center. It is estimated that this facility provides mobility to more than 1200 people per year.   In 1999, Gorman was approached to help a medical charity, Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO), to develop a program to teach local people in Honduras the science of orthotics and prosthetics. He has traveled to Honduras twice annually to provide free care to the needy and to teach his trade to Hondurans. For years, Gorman participated on numerous wheelchair basketball teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers.   Mark was named to various all tournament teams and all conference teams over his 35 years of wheelchair basketball  He was a member of a national team in 1990 that traveled to Venezuela.  Mark also  won the Pittsburgh Great Race 10K wheelchair division in the 80’s.

Colonel Joseph Grubich (posthumous)
PHS Class of 1980
COL Grubich was a highly decorated combat veteran and military leader, earning five Bronze Stars in his 30-year career. Highlights of leadership roles include: Chief of Joint Exercises and Training within the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, controller of MEDEVAC and CAS operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and facilitator of Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations during the US drawdown in Iraq, though he was most proud of serving as a Battalion Commander to new Army recruits.  Colonel Grubich’s civilian and military education includes:  Bachelor’s Degree in English from Washington and Jefferson College; Master’s Degree in Management, Webster University; Infantry Officer Basic Course and Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Ft. Benning, Georgia; Ranger School, Jumpmaster; Air Assault; Command and General Staff College which prepares officer to lead larger units and command on joint and combined battlefield operations with sister services in a joint environment and with international forces in a combined environment’ and Joint/Combined Warfare School.

Crystal Hall
PHS Class of 1999
Crystal attended Carnegie Mellon University where she earned degrees in both Decision Science and Policy and Management. She then studied Social Psychology at Princeton University, earning both a Masters and PhD. After completing her graduate studies, she moved to Seattle, Washington to join the faculty at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Her research and teaching explore the integration of psychology into the design and implementation of social policy - with a particular focus on race, equity, and decision making in the context of poverty. She has also served United States government agencies at the local, state, and federal level, including an appointment as a Fellow on the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team from 2015-2016. She has received numerous awards recognizing her research, teaching, and service to the field.  In addition to her scholarly pursuits, she completed her 300 hour yoga teaching certification in 2014. Her personal practice and teaching style emphasizes the physical aspects of yoga as tools for meditation, healing, and the pursuit of self-discipline and well-being.

Amy Davis McShane
PHS Class of 1989
Amy has worked in both formal and informal education for more than 30 years. She earned her undergraduate degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh.  In 2007, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) hired McShane for a newly created position in which she would direct career education, gifted education, and academic competitions for Allegheny County. In that role, she created the STEM Design Challenge, an elementary and middle school competition that quickly expanded statewide with every Pennsylvania intermediate unit now offering the competition that draws more than 5,000 student participants annually.  Prior to joining the AIU, McShane served 10 years at the Carnegie Science Center’s coordinator of Children’s Programs. There, she created and launched new camps and classes and a national Summer Camps Exchange, a networking group for summer camp coordinators in science museums.  McShane has also served on boards for the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education, Smart Futures, National Association for Gifted Education Standards Committee, and the Plum Borough Community Library. 

Josh Verbanets
PHS Class of 2001
Josh is a Pittsburgh-based singer, songwriter, and performer, best known as the front-man for indie-rock band Meeting of Important People and as one-half of celebrated childrens performing duo Josh & Gab.  As a live musician and event volunteer, Josh has hosted and performed benefit events for charity organizations such as UPMC Childrens Hospital, Auberle Foundation, Spina Bifida Association, Mario Lemieux Childrens Home, and many others.  Alongside co-creator Gab Bonesso, Josh's award-winning musical-comedy programming has been featured in over 800 schools across 15 U.S. States and abroad in Mexico, leading to television partnerships with both KDKA and WQED television, and honors as one of Pittsburgh's "40 Under 40" by Pittsburgh Magazine in 2013.  In both 2009 and 2016, hometown radio station WYEP-FM named Meeting of Important People albums the top local releases of the year, with many of the band’s songs going on to be featured in television programming such as E's Keeping Up With The Kardashians, MTV's The Real World and Jersey Shore, and CBS' The Ghost Whisperer.  Josh is also an active real estate agent with hometown property brokerage Riva Ridge.