Nominations Open for South Huntington Hall of Fame

There’s a way to honor those South Huntington alumni who have made a significant impact on others: The South Huntington Hall of Fame.

The general criteria for selection state that nominees must: have graduated at least 10 years ago, have graduated from South Huntington or Walt Whitman High School, have attended high school in South Huntington for a minimum of 2 years, and be worthy of permanent recognition in any field or endeavor.

Hall of Fame nominations will be accepted from December 2011 through April 15, 2012. Nomination forms are now available on the district’s web site click here. Questions can be sent to: HallofFame@shufsd.org.

Last year's recipients included:

Gen. Richard P. Mills, then commander of all United States Marine Corps ground forces in Afghanistan.

Julian Moore: 1994 Walt Whitman High School 1994,  appointed in 2006 as an assistant United States attorney in the Southern District of New York.

Jason M. Mailhot: Graduated Walt Whitman High School 1974 and is a retired full professor and former chair of the Department of Surgical Sciences at Marquette University, School of Dentistry.  Dr. Mailhot earned his undergraduate degrees from SUNY Farmingdale and Oneonta then completed a Post-Doctoral Clinical Research Fellowship while actively engaged in periodontal research and serving as a mentor and student advisor. Dr. Mailhot is also a colonel in the United States Army Reserve, a decorated combat Veteran who has served active duty in Iraq.

Patrick McMullan: Graduated from Walt Whitman High School 1973, then went on to major in business at New York University. A premiere photographer with a studio and agency in New York City his work appears regularly in his weekly New York Magazine column. He is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and his work has been featured in publications worldwide such as the New York Times Magazine and Vogue, and in international editions of Harper’s Bazaar, Details, Tatler and Out.

Maureen McCormick-Grudens: Graduated from Walt Whitman High School 1979. A Nassau district attorney dedicated for the past 12 years to Vehicular Crimes prosecution.  For several years she has visited Walt Whitman and other high schools across Long Island, as presenter for a program called “Choices and Consequences.”  This program discusses the danger of drunk driving.

Linda S. Freeman (nee Fusina):  Graduated Walt Whitman High School 1971. Retired after 30 years in law enforcement as a special agent of the FBI, she distinguished herself as a Hostage Negotiator, Supervisor, Employee Assistance counselor, Fitness Instructor, Linguist, National Academy member and Instructor at Quantico, Virginia; besides working Terrorism and Foreign Counterintelligence for most of her career. She has actively volunteered her time to worthy causes in the South Huntington Schools community.

Gene Gross: Graduated from Walt Whitman High School 1965, who joined the Suffolk County Police Department, working both patrol and plain clothes operations as an officer for ten years, then as a detective for twenty-four years.  He served active duty on the detective, arson and district attorney squads. From January 1970 to the present he has served as supervisor of security for Walt Whitman High School.