.Just before North Side and other schools were shut down by the pandemic, the Distinguished Alumni Committee met and chose the alumni who were to be honored in 2020. As you all know, we had to postpone the program. It is our pleasure to let you know that the Distinguished Alumni Breakfast and Ceremony has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 18. This will be a part of Homecoming weekend which may include reunions and the usual Homecoming activities on Friday, September 17. As a reminder there will be four honorees this year: Thomas Duxbury (1960), John Burd (1964), Margaret Thompson Miller (1957), and Philip Burkhalter (1955). Even though these honorees information was printed in a previous newsletter, we are including with this article their basic biographies again.
Thomas Duxbury is a renowned scientist who has worked with NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Exploration Agency, and the Russian Space Agency. He was the only American who worked with Moscow to support the Russian Phobos Sample Return Mission in 2011 and led the US Stardust Mission that returned samples back to Earth in 2006. Currently he is a research professor of planetary science at George Mason University.
John Burd is currently the CEO of Lysulin, Inc. and launched an all-natural scientifically proven product to improve the health of people with diabetes. He also founded Wonder Spray,IIc, a natural antibiotic solution for a variety of ailments. Previously, he was founder of Oculir, Inc., general partner in Windamere Venture Partners, CEO of MiraMedica, president and CEO of DexCom, founder of LXN Corporation, and developer for Quidel Corporation.
Margaret Miller Thompson began her career as a nurse at Riley Children’s Hospital. From there she had nursing positions at Baylor University Hospital and Louisville General Hospital. She also taught nursing at Jefferson Community College and Bellarmine University. She became an advocate for nurses as a president of the Kentucky Nurses Association and authored a book on professional nursing and was instrumental in the law that established nurse practitioners in Kentucky. Margaret passed away in 2016.
Phlip Burkhalter has been a distinguished scientist working first for Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland and continued his career at the Naval Research Laboratory, and was a scientific consultant for the Strategic Defense Initiative. His work with lasers and spectroscopy along with his research and paper XR-Ray Spectra from Exploded Plasmas contributed to today’s laser technology. The x-ray spectroscopy found evidence of lead polluting our waterways.
All graduates and families of graduates are invited to be a part of this special day. If you would like to attend please use the form below. If there should be a reason to postpone again, we will return any fees paid in advance.