Inductees

Ned received his degree from The University of Scranton and his Masters from Kean College.
He was an educator for the Manville School system for 42 years, first as a 6th grade teacher at Roosevelt school and then as Vice Principal at M.H.S. Ned served on the Manville Board of Education for 22 years.
Ned coached football, baseball and wrestling at Manville High School. Highlights were an undefeated football season and State Champions in both football and baseball in 1968 and he was named Coach of The Year for both sports. Ned went on to coach football at The University of Princeton from 1972 to 1992. He came back to Manville High School as a volunteer football coach until Parkinsons sidelined him in 2021.
Ned was inducted into the Archbald Notre Dame Hall of Fame and also into the N.J. Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011. 

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Manville Education Foundation, N.J.E.A., Manville Health Department, Founding Member of The Manville Quarterback Club, Manville Athletics Booster Club, Manville Seniors, Somerset County Football Coaches Association, Board of Somerset County Educational Services, Manville Emergency Management Committee and Life Member of The Manville/Hillsborough Elks.
Ned received Citizen of the Year Award from the Borough of Manville. The Manville High School Football Field is named in his honor. 

Ned passed away on April 5, 2022, with his loving family by his side.

Art Lisciandro came to Manville High School in 1964 to begin a Russian Language program for the many local students who were of Slavic ethnic origin. In 1966 he received a one-year grant to study Mandarin in Hawaii followed by a summer of field study at a Taiwan University. Upon his return, he instituted a Chinese Language Program. In the 1970's, with the arrival of several students from Laos and Vietnam, he began teaching English as a Second Language. Over the years, he continued to receive foreign study grants at universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg and to organize and escort tours to Russia for MHS students, parents and faculty members. He also prepared MHS students of Russian to compete annually at an Oral Language Competition, the Russian Olympiada,, at which they were extremely successful, winning a majority of gold medals each year. Three MHS students were NJ State winners and were awarded a three-week study tour in Vladimir, Russia, where they lived with families during their stay, as did Mr. Lisciandro, who was the Group Leader for nine of those summer programs. In the 1980's, he began teaching Spanish and was still teaching Russian, ESL and Spanish when he retired in 2011.

Julie de Francois Ward started her sportswriting career at Manville High School when physical education teacher asked if she would like to become the high school sports correspondent for The Home News (New Brunswick). Beginning in 1960, Julie covered Manville High sports for several area newspapers. She covered only boys’ sports; there were no girls’ interscholastic leagues at that time.

In college, Julie majored in political science and journalism at Syracuse University. In the 1960s, sportswriting was still largely a male profession, but in 1972 after getting her master’s degree, she joined the sports staff of The Belleville (Illinois) News Democrat. She was the only woman on the staff and wrote a weekly women’s sports column. Eventually, she joined the staff of The St. Louis Globe-Democrat.  She was the only woman on a 23 member staff. She covered golf, tennis, and was the best writer for the St. Louis University men’s basketball team.

In 1984, she was hired by USA Today which grew to become the USA’s largest circulation newspaper. As a general assignment reporter, she covered Wimbledon, The Masters, the U.S. Open tennis and was thrown out of many NFL locker rooms. After the birth of her son, she became an assignment editor overseeing the NBA, boxing, tennis, golf, and motorsports. In 1988, she became a deputy managing editor responsible over the years for daily content, on-site Olympic coverage, special projects, and investigations. She led the team that won the 2002 Associated Press Sports Editors award for best news story which revealed the 302 members of the then all-male Augusta National Golf Club, home to The Masters.

In 2007, the Association of Women in Sports Media honored her with the Mary Garber Pioneer Award for being a role model in paving the way for women in sports media.

Gerald Loeb (Jerry) was born in New Brunswick in 1948 and grew up in Middlebush and Manville. His mother Ruth (nee Blumberg) spent most of her 97 years in Manville, where she taught English as a Second Language after retirement. His father Louis operated Blumberg Hardware in Manville and was a founder of the Manville Public Library. His younger brother Henry was a lawyer in Manville and Somerville for many years. Gerald lives in South Pasadena, California, with his wife. He has one son, one step-daughter and three grandchildren. His hobbies include gardening, tennis and piano. 

While at Manville High School (1961-1965) Gerald was editor of Hoofprints and accompanist for the MHS Chorus. After graduating as valedictorian, Gerald Loeb received B.A. and M.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University and surgical training at the University of Arizona. He was an intramural research scientist and Chief of the Section on Neurokinesiology in the Laboratory of Neural Control at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.  He was Professor of Physiology and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Unit at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, 1988-99. Gerald Loeb is now Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Medical Device Development Facility at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Loeb is an inventor on over 75 US patents, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and a consultant to the medical device industry. He was one of the inventors of cochlear implants, which have restored hearing to over a million deaf people. He served as Chief Scientist for Advanced Bionics Corp. and was a founding director of SynTouch Inc., designated a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.  Dr. Loeb does research on sensory-motor neurophysiology and implantable electronic devices.  He has published over 400 articles, most available at http://mddf.usc.edu. Other biographic information can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_E._Loeb. 

Frank B. Janoski graduated from Manville High School in 1970. Frank went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York with a Bachelor of Science degree and then received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Louisville School of Law. He served in the Army for 30 years (both on Active Duty and in the Reserves) and retired with the rank of Colonel. He commanded units at the company, battalion and group level and taught at the US Army’s Armor School. Frank was admitted to the Missouri Bar and the US Patent Bar. He practiced for almost 40 years before retiring from the active practice of law in 2020. He was a partner and the Chair of the Intellectual Property practice group for two national law firms in St Louis, Missouri. Frank was selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America and Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers from 2008-2020. His law practice included intellectual property and commercial litigation in the United States and around the world. Frank also has been very active in public service, including, among others: election as a Board member for the West Point Association of Graduates from 1992-2016 (chairing the Nominating, Governance and Audit committees); election as a City Council Member for the city of Webster Groves, Missouri; on the boards of the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY, St Louis Mental Health Association and the Special Needs Soccer Association in St Louis. Frank has been a Military Academy Liasion Officer for West Point since 1985 (he has helped over 400 candidates matriculate to West Point) and has sat on two congressional and one senate selection committee for nomination of students to the four service academies. Frank also founded the St. Louis Military Academies Sports Foundation. It supported women’s sports and awareness of women at the nation’s Service Academies. All proceeds each year went to the St. Louis Toys for Tots campaign. The main fundraiser was a soccer tournament in St. Louis between the West Point, Navy, Air Force and Saint Louis University women’s soccer teams. Finally, Frank has sat on the Board of golf clubs in St Louis and Kansas City and recently helped start a new PGA initiative, FLAGS FOR HOPE, at his Kansas City club. This program supports military veterans with PTSD, anxiety and separation from their service through the game of golf. 

Andrew (Drew) Persinko, Class of 1970, has worked in the nuclear industry for 37 years of which 31 were with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and 6 were as a consultant at a commercial nuclear power plant and at a Department of Energy nuclear weapons site. While at NRC, Drew had responsibility for nuclear safety issues, environmental issues, international matters, clean-up and closure of nuclear sites, licensing new uranium sites, nuclear waste issues, inspections, incident investigations and management. He analyzed nuclear power plants for their ability to withstand earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and tsunamis, inspected maintenance, investigated the failure of plant components and human error, testified about plant safety at public hearings, briefed Congressional staff, and completed his career as a senior NRC manager in the federal government’s Senior Executive Service.  He received a Meritorious Service Award for sustained outstanding service. In his career, Drew worked with his colleagues from France, Russia, Spain, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Canada, and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria to improve international nuclear safety. He met with the Russians in Moscow multiple times to discuss reducing the amount of plutonium suitable for use in a nuclear weapon by converting it into fuel for a reactor. He retired from the federal government and now works as a nuclear safety consultant where he recently conducted a nuclear safety workshop in Manila for the Philippine government. In addition to working at NRC during the day, Drew taught math in the evenings for 15 years at a local college. While on summer breaks from college, he coached a pony league baseball team in Manville. He has a master’s degree in engineering from MIT, a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland.

*In the second picture, Andrew is wearing anti-contamination clothes while doing an inspection inside the containment building at a nuclear power plant.

Cheryl Chase is a New Jersey native and a graduate of Manville High School in 1976. She is an accomplished voice actor with an Emmy Certificate, best known for her iconic role as Angelica Pickles in the four-time Emmy Award-winning 90’s cartoon show Rugrats. Over nine seasons, Cheryl’s performance became a defining element of the series, continuing in the recent reboot. In 1990, Cheryl’s character, Angelica Pickles, was chosen by First Lady Barbara Bush to be the spokesperson for her “Read Aloud” Campaign, part of the First Lady’s literacy initiative. Cheryl was also involved with the children’s charity Famous Fone Friends. She and other celebrities connected with seriously ill children to inspire and comfort them through their challenging health journeys. As a proud member of the Television Academy and grateful recipient of the Women’s Image Network Award for Best Comedic Actress in an Animated Series, Cheryl’s passion for storytelling is evident in every role she takes on. Her love for creating heartfelt, authentic characters has driven her latest creative endeavor, where she serves as show runner and stars in her new comedy web series, Schmidti’s Circuit. This project marks her exciting transition into the world of on-camera acting and live action production, show casing her versatility and commitment to bringing diverse narratives to the screen.

Born and raised in Manville, John presently serves as Deputy Director Training Management and Performance Improvement (TMPI) division, Office of Human Capital Services (HCS) within the Veterans Administration (VA).
Prior to joining the VA, John served as the Digital Talent Management Director, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, Officer of the Secretary of Defense (OSD CDAO). The CDAO Digital Talent Management team oversaw Workforce Development for the DoD digital workforce of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Data analytics professionals and practitioners. John was also responsible for training the General/Flag Officer and DoD SES workforce on emerging technologies and the skills needed to lead Data enabled organizations.
Prior to Federal Civilian Service, John served and retired from the United States Navy.  CAPT Sedlock retired after a 30-year career, which started in Naval Aviation as an F/A-18 pilot. Follow on experiences included deployments commanding a UAV detachment in Afghanistan supporting US Special Operations, various Command tours and a final tour with Navy Personal Command designing and deploying a new performance management tool for the Navy uniform force.
A member of the MHS class of 1986, John graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona, in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management.  He received his commission in 1991 and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1992.  He received a Master of Business Administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in May 2002.
John and his wife Traci currently reside in New Smyrna Beach Florida near John’s parents.