Plum Distinguished Alumni honors 5 at 13th annual banquet

Five Plum High School graduates have joined the ranks of the district’s distinguished alumni.

The Plum Distinguished Alumni Committee honored the inductees during its 13th annual banquet Sept. 28 at Oakmont Country Club.

The committee recognizes district alumni who have distinguished themselves in various fields of excellence or who have made major contributions to society. It was established in 2006 by Bob Ford, a retired Plum teacher.

Including this year’s class, the committee has inducted 62 individuals since 2009. None were inducted in 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic.

This year’s inductees graduated between 1978 and 2001.

They are Mark Gorman, class of 1978; Joseph Grubich, class of 1980; Amy Davis McShane, class of 1989; Crystal Hall, class of 1999; and Josh Verbanets, class of 2001.

• For 30 years, Gorman has helped people needing various braces and artificial limbs in a center he co-founded in 1993, Morgantown Orthotic and Prosthetic Center in Morgantown, W.Va.

The summer after graduating high school, while working for a roofing company, Gorman fell off a roof resulting in burns and a spinal injury with paralysis.

He continued his education and earned a bachelor of science degree from Wright State University and became a certified prosthetist and orthotist at Northwestern Medical School.

Since 1999, Gorman has traveled twice a year to Honduras to teach people there the science of orthotics and prosthetics and to provide free care to the needy and teach his trade.

He has participated in numerous wheelchair basketball teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers, and was a member of a national team that traveled to Venezuela in 1990. He won the Pittsburgh Great Race 10K wheelchair division in the 1980s.

• Grubich, who retired from the Army as a colonel, died in February 2022. He was recognized posthumously, and his son, Nicholas Grubich, accepted his award.

Grubich was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1984. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Washington & Jefferson College and a master’s in management from Webster University.

A decorated combat veteran and military leader, he earned five Bronze Stars in his 30-year career. Highlights include chief of joint exercises and training within the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon; controller of medevac and close air support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; facilitator of noncombatant evacuation operations during the U.S. drawdown in Iraq; and battalion commander to new Army recruits.

• McShane has worked in education for more than 30 years. She was the coordinator of children’s programs for the Carnegie Science Center for 10 years and has worked with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit since 2007.

At the AIU, she directs career and gifted education and academic competitions. As the Western Pennsylvania gifted liaison and career ready Pennsylvania lead for the state Department of Education, she provides professional development and resources on gifted and career education to teachers throughout the state.

She earned an undergraduate degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh.

• Hall earned degrees in decision science and policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a master’s and doctorate at Princeton University, where she studied social psychology.

She moved to Seattle and joined the faculty at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Her research and teaching explore the integration of psychology into the design and implementation of social policy with a focus on race, equity and decision-making in the context of poverty.

She has served government agencies at the local, state and federal levels, including an appointment as a fellow on the White House social and behavioral sciences team from 2015-16.

• Verbanets is a Pittsburgh-based singer, songwriter and performer. He is the frontman for the indie rock band Meeting of Important People and half of the children’s performing duo Josh & Gab with Gab Bonesso.

As a live musician and volunteer, Verbanets has hosted and performed benefit events for charity organizations such as UPMC Children’s Hospital, Auberle Foundation, Spina Bifida Association and the Mario Lemieux Children’s Home.

Verbanets is a real estate agent with Riva Ridge.

Distinguished alumni are featured on the “Wall of Distinction” at Plum High School, which was updated and unveiled on Oct. 7, 2022.

For information about the Plum Distinguished Alumni Committee, past honorees and how to nominate a graduate, visit the group’s website at PlumDistinguishedAlumni.com.

Nomination forms must be received by April 30 for consideration.