Famed Actor, Former NFLer, National TV News Reporters & NASA Scientist All Being Honored At Pennsbury High School

Several well-known Pennsbury High School graduates will be back in the area this week.

CBS News correspondent and author Robert Costa, Class of 2004; NBC News anchor Hallie Jackson, Class of 2002; actor Richard Kind, Class of 1974; NASA scientist Mark Shelhamer, Class of 1977; and former Philadelphia Eagles’ player Troy Vincent, Class of 1988, will be inducted into the Pennsbury High School Hall of Fame on Thursday.

“They will be recognized during a daytime assembly which will be attended by juniors and seniors and livestreamed to the rest of the student body. Costa, Jackson, Kind, Shelhamer, and Vincent will be introduced by Pennsbury High School student ambassadors and have the opportunity to address students and talk about their experiences in Pennsbury and beyond,” the district said in a statement.

The honorees are being recognized on the Pennsbury High School Hall of Fame wall, which is housed in the main foyer of Pennsbury High School West.

To recognize graduates who have excelled in their chosen fields, the Pennsbury High School Hall of Fame was established recently.

The wall is decorated with wooden plaques that list each inductee’s name, graduation year, and accomplishments. Five more Pennsbury High School graduates will be honored annually with a new plaque. For consideration, candidates must have graduated at least ten years ago.

In addition to the morning ceremony, Kind will stick around and host a public event Thursday evening.

An interview and question-and-answer session with Kind will be presented by Pennsbury High School Thespian Troupe 830 on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Cave at Pennsbury High School’s West Campus. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. They can purchased online or in cash at the door 45 minutes before the doors open.

The famed TV, film and stage actor will talk about his life and career at the event that will raise money for the high school’s drama club.

Kind visited the school in 2013 and met with drama students. He encouraged them to work hard if they want to make a name for themselves in Hollywood.

The district provided the following biographies for those being honored:

Robert Costa, Class of 2004

Robert Costa is the Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent for CBS News, where he covers national politics and American democracy. Based in Washington D.C., he is a regular on “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” “CBS Mornings,” and CBS’s popular weekend program, “Sunday Morning,” where he has interviewed high-profile personalities ranging from Congresswoman Liz Cheney to rapper Killer Mike.

Before joining CBS News in 2022, Costa and legendary journalist Bob Woodward co-wrote “Peril,” which was published by Simon & Schuster. The book documented the tumultuous transition between the Trump presidency and the Biden presidency and was a #1 New York Times bestseller. It was also cited in numerous subpoenas issued by the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Prior to working with Woodward, Costa served as the moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” on PBS from 2017 to 2020. The primetime weekly news program, which features in-depth discussions with top reporters, is one of the longest-running shows on television.

From 2014 to 2021, Costa was a national political reporter at The Washington Post, where he worked with colleagues on numerous investigations and covered Congress, the White House, and national campaigns. He also served as a lead host of “Post Live,” the Post’s live interview series featuring newsmakers such as Senator Bernie Sanders, Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and actress Jane Fonda. From 2015 to 2020, Costa was also a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, appearing on “Morning Joe,” “Meet the Press,” and “The 11th Hour,” among many other programs.

Costa holds a bachelor’s degree, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame, where he is a former trustee and a master’s degree in politics from the University of Cambridge.

While at Pennsbury, he was an active member of the speech and debate team, the student television station PHS-TV and served in student government. He also worked to book musical acts for Pennsbury’s world-famous prom and landed performances by Maroon 5, Eve 6, and John Mayer.

Hallie Jackson, Class of 2002

Hallie Jackson is the senior Washington correspondent for NBC News, covering the biggest stories from our nation’s capital, and hosts the 3:00 p.m. hour of “MSNBC Reports” as well as “Hallie Jackson NOW” at 5:00 p.m. on NBC News NOW. Jackson is also a fill-in anchor for “NBC Nightly News” and “Today.” Jackson’s work is featured across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms and NBCNews.com.

In February 2020, Jackson co-moderated the NBC News and MSNBC Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, the most watched Democratic presidential debate in history, with nearly 20 million viewers. Previously, Jackson was the Chief White House Correspondent for NBC News, covering President Donald Trump’s administration from the inauguration through the impeachment trial and the 2020 election. Jackson traveled with the president for every key international trip, including the summits with Kim Jong Un and the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.

In 2021, Jackson became the host of the 3:00 p.m. hour on MSNBC, where she brings well-sourced updates and breaks down key developments from Washington. She previously hosted the 10:00 a.m. hour on MSNBC since 2017.

While reporting on the 2016 campaign trail, Jackson consistently broke developments in the election cycle and scored exclusive interviews with several GOP candidates, including Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson.

Before covering politics for the network, Jackson reported from the Los Angeles bureau of NBC News for a year.

Prior to joining the network in 2014, Jackson was a national correspondent for Hearst Television in Washington, D.C., providing daily coverage of political and national events for its 26 affiliates across the country. She has also worked for WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a general assignment reporter for WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland.

Jackson, a native of Yardley, Pennsylvania, graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Richard Kind, Class of 1974

Richard Kind was born on November 22, 1956, in Trenton, New Jersey. He was later raised in Bucks County, where he graduated from Pennsbury High School in 1974. He went on to attend Northwestern University as a pre-law major before a friend of his father’s persuaded him to give acting a try. In 1983, he joined Second City Mainstage after being a member of the Practical Theater Company, an improv comedy group founded by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall, among others. Kind performed in several resident stage productions.

Kind is best known for his work on sitcoms. In 1992, he was cast in the recurring role of Dr. Mark Devanow on Mad About You. His character appeared less frequently in later seasons because Kind was also playing the role of Paul Lassiter on Spin City. In addition to starring in the Amazon Prime Video original series Red Oaks, and HBO’s Luck, he has had guest spots on numerous television shows, including Two and a Half Men, and The Goldbergs, and recurring roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Gotham. Movie credits include The Producers, A Serious Man, The Station Agent, and 2013’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, Argo. Kind’s voice is equally as recognizable as his expressive face. He has lent his voice to several animated films: Bing Bong in Inside Out, Molt in A Bug’s Life, and Van in Cars and Cars 2. You can also hear him on episodes of the animated television series Dora, the Explorer, The Penguins of Madagascar, and American Dad.

Richard Kind was nominated for a Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Marcus Hoff in the 2013 Broadway production of The Big Knife. George Clooney is a close personal friend of Mr. Kind’s and was the best man at Mr. Kind’s wedding. Mr. Kind has three children and currently resides in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

Mark Shelhamer, Class of 1977

Mark Shelhamer was born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Mark attended the Pennsbury School District, graduating from Pennsbury High School in 1977. While at Pennsbury High School, he concentrated on math and science, but also played drums in the concert, marching, and jazz bands. He attended Drexel University where he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering, while doing biomedical research at Temple University’s medical school.

After finishing his master’s degree at Drexel, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for biomedical engineering and earned his Doctorate in 1990. It was at MIT that he was introduced to the fascinating world of human spaceflight, and performed research on the astronaut crews of two space shuttle missions. He also had his first taste of weightlessness in the NASA parabolic flight aircraft known as the Vomit Comet, which provide short periods of zero-G for research. This started an addiction to being weightless that remains to this day. It was at MIT that he also met his wife Jennifer Wiseman, now the chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mark went on to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to further his research, and remain there 32 years later, where he is a professor in the school of medicine. He runs the Human Spaceflight Lab and a larger initiative known as the Bioastronautics at Hopkins. In 2013, he took leave from Johns Hopkins to serve as Chief Scientist of the NASA Human Research Program, where he coordinated the entire NASA research effort to maintain human health and performance for missions to the moon and Mars. Since then, he continues to do research, consults for NASA, the FAA, and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, and is an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University.

Mark is best known for his pioneering work on a multidisciplinary approach to human spaceflight, including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. He is a leading authority on the human response to spaceflight, and writes and speaks widely on that topic. He has over 100 scientific publications, and has published the book Nonlinear Dynamics in Physiology: A State-Space Approach. He has two patents for various vestibular assessment devices.

Troy Vincent, Class of 1998

Troy Vincent, Sr., is currently the Executive Vice president of Football Operations at the National Football League (NFL). In this role, Vincent is responsible for several divisions, including Business Strategy and Development, Officiating, Game Operations, Policy and Compliance, Football Communications and Marketing, Player Community, and Player Engagement.

As a non-voting member of the Competition Committee, Vincent develops programs for players, coaches, and football executives. The NFL Legends Community, NFL Way to Play, and The Rookie Success program are just a few key initiatives created under his watch. In addition, he has implemented programs that focus on wellness/mental health, suicide prevention, stigma change, and domestic violence & sexual assault prevention. He works closely with clubs, players, and legends on social justice initiatives in communities across the nation.

Troy Vincent began his 15-year professional football career as a first-round draft pick and continues to be recognized for his contributions on the field. He made five Pro Bowl appearances and was selected All-Pro three times. He has been nominated to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the Hall of Fames for the Philadelphia Eagles, the State of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin, Pennsbury High School, and recently the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

Before joining the league’s front office, Vincent was the President of the NFL Players Association, serving from 2004-2008. Prior to that, he served as a player representative for eight years. During his tenure with the NFL Players Association, Vincent was instrumental in negotiating, constructing, and implementing three Collective Bargaining Agreement extensions. Personally, Vincent is an advocate against domestic violence and sexual assault. Being directly affected by domestic violence, both Vincent and his wife, Tommi, share a passion and commitment to promoting the message of “Leadership Over Violence”. They serve their community by visiting shelters, speaking to advocacy groups, and encouraging others to act to end domestic violence and sexual assault.

Additionally, through their foundation, Love Thy Neighbor, the Vincent family is dedicated to humanitarian efforts defined by giving back to those in need throughout communities across America, beginning with their hometown of Trenton, NJ. Because of his charitable endeavors, Vincent is the only player in history to have received the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award and the NFL Players Association Byron Whizzer White Award. He also received the National Jefferson Award for Public Service for extraordinary public service. Vincent also serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. A father of five, Vincent and his wife call Virginia home.

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