Alumni Hall of Fame
2024 Wall of Fame Honorees
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Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning journalist who appears frequently on CNN. He has also appeared on Nightline, NPR, TV One, and the BBC.
Jones, who graduated from Northeast High School in 1985, is the host of Wake Up With WURD, which airs weekday mornings on WURD Radio. He is also Community Affairs Director for Radio One Philadelphia, and hosts Your Voice, a weekly show on Classix 107.9 FM. He holds a B.A. in journalism from Temple University, and pens a column on race and social justice for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is the author of 11 books, including Pipe Dream (Random House, 2001), The Bridge (St. Martin’s Press, 2003) and Ten Lives Ten Demands Jones’s love for writing was nurtured at Northeast High School, where Mr. Grabar, a dedicated English teacher, recognized his gift. Today, in addition to his many writing credits, Jones is a licensed Baptist minister and the founder of ManUpPHL, a non-profit that partners with the Philadelphia School District and criminal justice agencies to fight gun violence. ManUpPHL pays stipends to participants, provides them with mentoring, and assists them in finding employment. A married father of three, Jones is a national voice on race and politics. A |
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As noted on The School District of Philadelphia Northeast High School website, the Northeast High School mission and approach to learning is to empower students to embrace learning as a lifelong process…to foster students a respect for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, or sexual orientation, for this is the essence of learning in a global community. The school will prepare students to be contributing members of the high-tech society, with the ultimate goal of becoming empathetic and transformative leaders within their families, communities, and world.
With the stated mission and approach to learning, how fortunate it is to be a current student at Northeast High School…how fortunate it is to be a former student who graduated from a school that even then, recognized each of us as individuals who could contribute to the better good…and how fortunate it is to embrace this mission today and connect to it fifty years later. Karen Kolsky graduated from Northeast High School in June 1974. And in June, she will be attending her 50th high school reunion along with many students from the 133rd class. Following high school graduation, Karen attended a multitude of colleges and Throughout her years as a practicing teacher in District schools, Karen attended Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College) and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania obtaining a Masters in Special Education and a Principal Certification. She also attended St. Joseph’s University and earned a Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility. And finally, Karen earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focused on the Principals’ Effect on Teachers’ Instructional Practices in Kindergarten Dr. Kolsky has had numerous roles and responsibilities spanning almost four decades within the district, including but not limited to being a teacher, Principal, Assistant Superintendent, Deputy Chief of Leadership Development, and most recently retired as Deputy Chief of School Organization & Management. Dr. Kolsky is the wife of 37 years to Jeff, a Central High School graduate, mother of two children and grandmother to the joys of her life, her four grandchildren. She devotes much of her time to being with her grandchildren. She is hoping to write a book in the near future about best practices for the principalship.
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Richard (Dick) Howard Himes was born in north Philadelphia in 1935. He was the next to the youngest of six brothers and sisters. His mother passed away when he was eight years old and his father died when he was 14. Dick then lived with four of his siblings and his grandmother.
In January of 1950, he entered Northeast High School and graduated in January of 1953. During his first year at Northeast High School, he was invited to join the honors section. Dick’s interest in chemistry was formed in his senior year upon taking a chemistry course under an influential Upon graduation, Dick was a recipient of a four-year full tuition scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania. This scholarship was the catalyst for a long and successful academic career in Dick was first generation, and the only sibling from his family, to go to college. He obtained a Bachelors of Arts degree in Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1956. This was followed by a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkley in 1961. Dick Following his post-doc, Dick joined the University of Kansas, Lawrence Kansas, in 1963 as Assistant Professor. Dick spent 38 years at the University of Kansas, during which he served as chair of the Biochemistry department before retiring as full Professor in 2000. He has published During his tenure at the University of Kansas, Dick’s research in enzymology and cell biology contributed to important discoveries in the understanding and treatment of cancer. Dick and his wife, Sue, continue to live in Lawrence Kansas and are active members of the University alumni community. They have three children living in Virginia, Arkansas and Washington state. Dick and Sue are active travelers, having visited all seven continents and many countries across the world. They continue to take on new adventures. |
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Tommy Rosenfeld is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CanAm Enterprises. Tommy’s upbringing was imbued with lessons on the importance of strong moral values and persistence. Despite his parents’ modest education, Tommy regards them as the wisest people he knows, an outlook that has fueled his journey from Northeast High School’s class of ’71 to the top of the EB-5 investment immigration industry.The U.S. EB-5 program allows qualified foreigners who invest in pre-screened projects that create significant new jobs for U.S. workers, to become U.S. permanent residents. In essence, it’s about transforming foreign investment into a dual boon: enabling investors to achieve their American dream and stimulating job creation and economic development in the U.S. at no cost to the American taxpayer. Under Tommy’s stewardship, CanAm Enterprises is nationally recognized as the EB-5 industry Tommy’s journey to the heart of the EB-5 program is deeply personal. Born in Israel to Holocaust Tommy is an attorney and certified public accountant. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in business But Tommy’s life is more than his professional accolades. He resides in Brooklyn with his beloved
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