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Pingry People Exhibition Display

Pingry People

Through the Years

Discover the stories and contributions of former graduates, faculty and staff at Pingry. This interactive wall celebrates the diverse impact that people from our community have had over the years, both within the school and in the wider world.

Class of 2013

Temi Butler '13

A vice president at HarbourView Equity Partners, an investment firm focused on the media and entertainment industry, Temi Butler ’13 was named to the Forbes “30-Under-30” list for Finance in 2023.

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Teacher

Mary Jean McLaughlin

Mary Jean McLaughlin taught Grade 4 from 1978–2007, years that included serving as Chair of Language Arts and helping create the fourth-grade social studies curriculum. Perhaps most memorably, this lover of the environment spearheaded the Lower School’s first Environmental Education Day in March 1990.

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Class of 1998

Melanie Nakagawa

A lover of the outdoors who has seen the impact of poor environmental policies on people’s lives, Melanie Nakagawa ’98 discovered “the immense gratification that comes from public service” through Pingry’s community service program. Thus began her journey as an environmental advocate.

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Class of 1976

Class of 1976

It is time to commemorate a milestone! During the 2024-25 school year, Pingry is celebrating 50 years of coeducation. In 1974, after 113 years as an all-boys school, Pingry merged with the coeducational elementary Short Hills Country Day School, decided to admit girls in all grades, and started a new era as a K–12 school with boys and girls. As part of the celebration, “Pingry People Through the Years” will be an all-women display.

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Teacher and Director

Dr. Denise Brown-Allen

Known affectionately as “DBA,” Dr. Denise Brown-Allen served as Upper School Director and a math teacher from 2008–2016. During her eight years, she considered it a priority to add more technology to Upper School classrooms, reflecting time earlier in her career when she managed software development for Bell Atlantic. This technology included the implementation of Pingry’s 1-to-1 Laptop Program (2013), which requires every student to have a laptop in every class. She also played a key role in Pingry’s transition from a five-day schedule to a seven-day “Letter Day” schedule (2013).

  • 1930s
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Class of 1987

Dr. Irfan Khawaja

Dr. Irfan Khawaja ’87 loved the intellectual engagement of, and big ideas introduced in, his English and philosophy classes—especially the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and books that combine literature, philosophy, and politics. He developed “a powerful attachment to philosophy and the humanities . . . to their ideals and texts.” Pingry also taught him to think about “the situations of less-fortunate people,” such as through Sherwood Anderson’s collection of short stories, Winesburg, Ohio.

  • 1930s
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Class of 1931

William S. Beinecke

Even though he attended Pingry for only three years (Grades 5–7), William S. Beinecke ’31 is one of the most visionary, influential, and generous people in the School’s history, and a paragon of how philanthropy can transform an institution forever.

  • 1930s
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Class of 1975

Mark Fury

As one of Pingry’s first Black students, Mark Fury ’75 joined a 2021 conversation during Black History Month to reflect on his experiences and said, “I found out what it means to love an institution that loves you.” Two aspects of Pingry culture were especially meaningful to him: he was a big believer in the Honor Code and loved giving School tours as a member of Blue Key.

  • 1970s
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Class of 1962

Rabbi James B. Rosenberg

A shy Pingry student for 12 years and one of four Jews in his class, Rabbi James B. Rosenberg ’62 became assertive about his identity with his classmates while devoting his teenage social life to the Jewish community. He knew that, as he got older, he would want to maintain his connection to a community “whom I understood and who accepted me.”

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Class of 1990

Michelle Friedland

 

“It was fun to prepare arguments that we hoped would win fake cases that our team presented against other schools.” A federal judge, Michelle Friedland ’90 started her law journey by participating in Pingry’s mock trials. Pingry also developed her critical thinking skills and intellectual confidence, and her English teachers taught her how to write “clearly and persuasively—a skill I continue to use every day.”

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Class of 2004

Seth Flowerman

An internship in London led him to change his intended college major, and it also motivated Seth Flowerman ’04 to offer residential summer internships to other high school students. He founded Career Explorations (CE) in 2003 and soon won awards and other recognition.

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Class of 1994

Amanda Freeman

A serial wellness entrepreneur and CEO, Amanda Freeman ’94 attended Pingry for 13 years. “Pingry instilled me with a love of learning, a curiosity about the world, a great desire to achieve, a strong value system, and a wonderful group of friends and peers,” she says. “Pingry taught me that hard work, integrity, and honor are some of the most important values to live by.

  • 1990s
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Class of 1978

Dr. Sämi Ludwig

Pingry has been a partner school for AFS (American Field Service) exchange students since 1960, and Dr. Sämi Ludwig ’78 from Switzerland was one of the School’s two AFS students in 1977-78. A self-described “bookworm,” he says that Pingry changed his life and inspired him to study English.

  • 1970s
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Teacher

Patti Euwer

Patti Euwer, a member of the Magistri, taught in the Lower School for 34 years, from 1986 to 2020; she spent 33 of those years with Grade 3 after teaching Grade 2 her first year.

  • 1980s
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Class of 1979

Jeannie Weissglass

Visual artist Jeannie Weissglass was inspired to paint because of her mother, who was a painter, an interior designer, and an avid collector of unusual antiques.

  • 1970s
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Class of 1947

Jack Edmondson

With a law degree from the University of Virginia under his belt, Jack Edmondson ’47 began his career with Cooperative for Assistance and Emergency Relief Everywhere (CARE International) in Germany and Poland as part of the post–World War II Marshall Plan, a U.S. program that provided funding to Western Europe to help with economic recovery...

  • 1940s
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Class of 1962

Robert Fullilove

One of the first African American students to integrate Pingry during the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Robert Fullilove III ’62 participated in the School’s Black History Month forum in 2021 and shared this memory...

  • 1960s
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Class of 1994

Jennifer Joel

Appropriately, literary agent Jennifer Joel ’94 has been a voracious reader from an early age, always drawn to books and storytelling... 

  • 1990s
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Teacher and Coach

Randy Velischek

Pingry takes great pride in having industry experts as teachers and coaches whenever possible. One example is former professional ice hockey player Randy Velischek, who graced Pingry’s classrooms and coached in the rink from 2007–2009...

  • 2000s
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Class of 1989

Chandra Cain Davis

Chandra Cain Davis ’89 likes people and stories and always wanted to be a lawyer. Growing up, she was told that her solid arguments made her persuasive...

  • 1980s
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Class of 2001

Gary Liu

Pingry gave Gary Liu ’01 a skill that he considered invaluable in launching his career: learning how to learn, and learning how to learn quickly...

  • 2000s
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Teacher

Laurinda Stockwell

Award-winning artist Laurinda Stockwell taught at Pingry from 2000 to 2012; her courses spanned the Upper and Middle School, including Photography, Art Fundamentals, Clayworking, Jewelry, and Art for sixth-grade students...

  • 2000s
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Class of 1992

Captain David Baird

Captain Baird ’92 is committed to helping ensure our nation’s security and pursued a career in the military partly because of Pingry’s Honor Code and its emphasis on ethical behavior, partly to work in an environment with similar core values, and partly to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, a Naval aviator.

  • 1990s
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Class of 1986

Ron Rice, Jr.

“Life changing” is how Ron Rice, Jr. ’86 describes his Pingry experience. Compared with his “homogenous community in Newark, NJ of mainly African American families,” he says Pingry offered connections with students from varied backgrounds, he discovered the Honor Code, and he learned about keeping one’s word and the importance of hard work...

  • 1980s
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Class of 1917

Frederick Trapnell

The International Air & Space Hall of Fame welcomed Frederick M. Trapnell, Class of 1917, as a 2015, posthumous inductee (he died in 1975) to recognize his tremendous influence on the U.S. Navy and the history of naval aviation...

  • 1910s
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Class of 1987

Elana Drell-Szyfer

A veteran of the cosmetics industry, Elana Drell-Szyfer ’87 credits Pingry with helping her land an entry-level position, namely because the School developed her love of French—an important influence and language in the cosmetics industry—global travel, and the aesthetics of Art History....

  • 1980s
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Class of 1977

Dr. Billy Cunningham

Disparities among populations are all-too-common in the United States, so Dr. William “Billy” Cunningham ’77 devoted his career to advocating for the health of marginalized communities...

  • 1970s
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Class of 1983

Andre Birotté, Jr.

The Honorable Andre Birotté, Jr. ’83, a federal judge in California, was supposed to have gone into medicine to follow in his father’s footsteps as a doctor, but it didn’t work out that way...

  • 1980s
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Class of 2016

Claudia Hu

Claudia Hu ’16 thought she wanted to be a doctor when she was growing up, but after starting to play the piano at age six, she improved to the point where she couldn’t envision giving up music...

  • 2010s
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Teacher and Coach

Ed Scott, Jr.

Edward Scott, Jr., a member of the Magistri and an accomplished runner, taught and coached at Pingry from 1968 to 1995...

  • 1960s
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Class of 2000

Rebecca Mozo

Award-winning actress Rebecca Mozo ’00 is drawn to the stage like a magnet—ever since high school, the stage has felt like home...

  • 2000s
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Class of 1991

Dr. Bon Ku

How do doctors make a difference? In the case of Dr. Bon Ku ’91, he tackles all sorts of challenges as an Emergency Medicine physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and he made it his mission to address lots of other challenges as Co-Founder and Director of the Jefferson Health Design Lab...

  • 1990s
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