hall of fame

THE MARTIN VAN BUREN HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME

Mario Savio
Mario Savio was an American activist and a key member in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement at the University of California in 1964. He went on to become a teacher of mathematics, physics and philosophy at Sonoma State University, to speak and organize in favor of immigrant rights and affirmative action and against U.S. intervention in Central America. Mario Savio will forever be remembered for his love of poetry and his fight toward equality.

Jonathan Bauman (aka Bowzer)
John Bauman was born in Brooklyn, started attending The Juilliard School at age 12 and was a graduate of the class of 1964. Bauman was a member of the band Sha Na Na between 1970 and 1983. He was then featured in the television comedy/variety show, which was named after his band, from 1977 to 1981. In his "Bowzer" persona, Bauman became instantly recognizable for his "greaser" clothes and hair, his muscular pose with his arm, and his catchphrase, "Grease for Peace!" Bauman now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Mary. Their two children, Nora and Eli, are graduates of Columbia University. His nephew, Eric C. Bauman, is the chairman of the California Democratic Party.

Frank Wilczek
Frank Wilczek was born and raised in Mineola, NY, Frank Anthony Wilczek attended Martin Van Buren High School and flourished throughout the years. As he performed exceptionally well academically, he went on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Chicago, a Master of Arts in Mathematics and Ph.D at Princeton University. In addition, he is the Herman Feshbach professor of physics at MIT, as well as the Founding Director of the T. D. Lee Institute and Chief Scientist at Wilczek Quantum Center. Wilczek has made several contributions to complex physics. Currently his theoretical research includes work on Axions, Anyons, and Time Crystals. These are concepts in physics which he named and elaborated on. He received a Nobel Prize in physics and is known as a theoretical physicist, author, and intellectual adventurer.

Ray Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, thinkers and futurists. He is involved in optical character recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology and electronic keyboard instruments. In 2001, he launched an AI that explores the potential future through forecasts and insights on change that still provides us with analyses of what's to come. He is also the principal inventor of the first CCD flatbed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition, print-to-speech reading machine for the blind. He pioneered pattern-recognition technology and has bridged the gap between technology and mankind.

Alvin Roth
Alvin E. Roth (Alvin Eliot Roth) was born on December 18, 1951, in New York City, New York, USA. Roth grew up in Queens, New York. He left MVB early, entering Columbia’s engineering school in the Fall of 1968 at the age of 16, and received a B.S. from Columbia University in 1971. Later he received an M.S. in 1973, and a Ph.D. in 1974, at Stanford University. All his degrees were in operations research, a field of engineering that applies scientific principles to the solution of administrative problems. Roth applied for science to business and economics, which he taught at the University of Illinois from 1974–1982, the University of Pittsburgh from 1982–1998), Harvard University from 1998–2012, and Stanford from 2012–Present. His work was cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences as an example of finding “practical solutions to real-world problems.”

Robert Maplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer. He worked primarily in studio and mainly focused on black and white photography. He grew up in Floral Park, Queens. He went to Pratt Institute where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His work engendered many debates and controversies on homoerotism .

Julian Philips
Julian Phillips graduated from Martin Van Buren in 1973. Phillips is an Emmy Award winning News Anchor, motivational speaker, author, media consultant and celebrity chef. Phillips recently become a host of Arise Review on the Arise News Networks, where he enlightens his audience on global politics. Julian Phillips served two years as Communications Director for Congressman Edolphus Towns and was once the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Phillips has been in the culinary industry. After winning a culinary contest in 2005 he achieved the respect and attention across the country. Phillips is also the creator of “Taste of Two Cities”, a Louisiana-based Cajun spice company. Phillips has also published the autobiography “Discovering Your Hidden Power, Unleashing the Power of Words” in which he describes and explains the powers of words and biblical scriptures which has proven to be beneficial to him in his personal life. Philips is now renowned nationally as a celebrity chef and co-host of Weekend Fox and Friends show where he uses his position to make others aware of global issues.

Ilene Graff
Ilene Graff is a Grammy-nominated recording artist best known to audiences as Marsha Owens, the mom on the long running ABC comedy Mr. Belvedere. Ilene went on to play Sandy for two-and-a-half years in the original Broadway production of Grease. Ilene created and teaches a Vocal Performance Workshop called Making the Song Your Own. She has done master classes around the country, as well as on Crystal Cruises Emerging Artists Voyages, representing the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards.

Donny Deutsch
Donald Jay Deutsch (born November 22, 1957) is an American branding and marketing professional, television personality, and former Chairman of advertising firm Deutsch Inc. Deutsch joined his father's advertising firm, David Deutsch Associates, in 1983. In 1989, his father handed full control of the agency to Donny. He currently hosts the MSNBC talk show "Saturday Night Politics with Donny Deutsch." He previously hosted the CNBC talk show, "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" (2004–2008.) After high school Deutsch attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia. Deutsch's first television appearance was as a contestant on the game show Match Game, after he had just graduated from The University of Pennsylvania.

Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn was a well known American actress, comedian, voice actress and singer in the late 1900’s. Kahn earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University in Long Island. She was well known for her comedic roles in several movies. Her best known work came in Paper Moon in 1973 with Ryan O'Neal, followed by Blazing Saddles in 1974. She also did a voice over for Gypsy in the well known animated film A Bug’s Life in 1998. Kahn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in both movies as well. On December 3, 1999, Kahn died of ovarian cancer in New York City at the age of 57. It was a disease she suffered with for about a year. The actress is still remembered even today for her roles in movies from the late 1900’s.

Marc Casper
Marc N Casper known as the President and CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Marc N. Casper, earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in economics from Wesleyan University. Graduating from Martin Van Buren with honors, he began his adult life with humble beginnings. Aside from being a scholar, Casper has displayed a number of leadership qualities, starting his career with Thermo Electron in 2001 as president of the company. Following the merge of both Thermo Electron, and Fisher Scientific, he continued to serve a leadership role. In 2018, his family made a donation to help create our DNA lab.

Natalie Achong
M.Natalie Achong, MD is a physician leader, advocate, and an assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine. Achong graduated from Martin Van Buren in 1985. She was a graduate of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education with honors and received her Doctorate of Medicine from New York University School of Medicine. At Yale University School of Medicine, she completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology.

Rob Parker
Rob Parker graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and has a master’s degree from Columbia University. He has broken barriers as the first Black sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press and then at Newsday. He was also the first African American to cover the Cincinnati Reds. Parker was named the National Association of Black Journalists’ Sports Task Force Journalist of the Year in 2018. Currently, he is co-host of a nightly national radio show with Chris Broussard called “The Odd Couple” on Fox Sports Radio. He writes a column for deadspin.com and is a contributor for MLB Network. He is an adjunct professor at USC, the founder and editor of MLBbro.com, a website that covers Black and brown Major Leaguers and has a podcast, “Inside The Parker.” He was previously was on ESPN, FS1’s Undisputed, and The Herd as an analyst. Parker has mentored more than 50 journalists, reaching back to lift up younger sportswriters coming up behind him.

Lowell Ganz
Lowell Ganz attended Queens College and then began a career writing for TV shows including The Odd Couple, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley (which he co-created). After teaming with Babaloo Mandel he began a screenwriting career. Their credits include Night Shift, Splash, Gung Ho, Spies Like Us, Parenthood, City Slickers, A League of Their Own, Mr. Saturday Night, Forget Paris, Multiplicity, Ed TV, and Fever Pitch. He received the Writers Guild Laurel Award for Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting. Lowell co-wrote the book for the musical version of Mr. Saturday Night now on Broadway. Lowell still roots for the Mets.

Jeffrey D. Ulllman
Jeff Ullman is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering (Emeritus) in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford and CEO of Gradiance Corp. He received the B.S. degree from Columbia University and a PhD from Princeton. Prior to his appointment at Stanford, he was a member of the technical staff of Bell Laboratories from 1966-1969, and on the faculty of Princeton University. He was chair of the Stanford Computer Science Department. Ullman was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1989, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012, the National Academy of Sciences in 2020, and has held Guggenheim and Einstein Fellowships. He has received the Sigmod Contributions Award (1996), the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award (1998), the Knuth Prize (2000), the Sigmod E. F. Codd Innovations Award (2006), the IEEE von Neumann Medal (2010), the NEC C&C Foundation Prize (2017), and the ACM A.M. Turing Award (2020). He is the author of 16 books.

1958 Baseball Team
This group of players from a newly created high school were major underdogs, going up against perennial champions, Curtis High School. The championship game was played in iconic Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team emerged victorious off of the last home run ever hit in Ebbets Field. They were the school’s only city baseball champs.