NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle High School welcomed four more distinguished alumni onto its Wall of Fame at a ceremony Thursday evening. The honorees include two research professors, a founder of a leading public relations firm and the head coach of the NRHS boys varsity basketball team.
They were chosen based on their outstanding professional achievements and notable contributions to their respective communities.
“It’s really great to hear these stories because they’re so inspiring,” Interim Principal Joseph Starvaggi told the gathered families and friends, including members of the basketball team. “I hope you guys are inspired as well.”
Dr. Michael N. Oxman, Class of 1954
Dr. Oxman has been a professor of medicine and pathology at the University of California, San Diego, since 1976; and, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System
He graduated from Harvard College in 1958 and Harvard Medical School in 1963. He then served as an intern and resident on the Harvard Medical Service at the Boston City Hospital, as a Staff Associate at the NIH, and as a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School with Dr. John F. Enders. He was a faculty member of the Childrens Hospital-Beth Israel Hospital Infectious Diseases Research Training Program, an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital.
His research over the past 50 years has involved the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral diseases, especially ailments caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). He has trained numerous physician-scientists at Harvard and the University of California, and has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed scientific publications, books and book chapters.
He is National Chairman of the landmark Shingles Prevention Study, which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of live attenuated Oka VZV shingles vaccine, leading to its FDA licensure in 2005 and its use in the United States and many other countries.
Dr. Oxman could not attend the ceremony because he is in Japan to deliver a lecture at Osaka University, Starvaggi said.
Madeline de Vries Hooper, Class of 1963
Hooper’s career was in public relations, initially at Bergdorf Goodman and later as the founder of her own agency, DeVries Public Relations, which grew to be a leading firm in the country specializing in marketing public relations.
Her experience includes work in fashion, beauty, retail, luxury products, wines, household goods and pharmaceuticals. She sold her agency to the Interpublic Group in 2001 and retired from the firm in 2005.
Hooper has served on several industry and charity boards including Cosmetic Executive Women, The Fashion Group and Berkshire Botanical Garden, where she is currently vice chair. In 2002, she received the Matrix Award, bestowed upon outstanding women in communications.
“It means the world to me to be on that wall,” said Hooper, who was accompanied by her husband and son. “I really am just full of pride.”
Dr. Chanel T. Tyler, Class of 1992
Dr. Tyler earned her medical degree from MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and is board certified. She completed her fellowship in maternal and fetal medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and is board eligible.
An assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Tyler has also co-authored published articles on preeclampsia, participated on several panels at summits and conferences on maternal fetal medicine, and conducted research on risk factors during pregnancy that resulted in various grants for the university. She is also the recipient of several honors and awards in the field.
“New Rochelle High School was the foundation that jumpstarted Chanel on a path that proved to be of great success,” said the honoree’s mother, Donna Tyler. Dr. Tyler was unable to attend.
Rasaun N. Young, Class of 1993
Young was named the head coach for the high school’s Boys Varsity Basketball team in 2012, leading the team to the New York State Class AA championship game in his first year.
His coaching career began at Mount Vernon High School in 2004. From 2005 to 2009, Young was the trainer for The Westchester Hawks Select AAU Team. He is the co-founder and president of Team Young World, Inc., a basketball camp designed to train young athletes to reach their full potential both on and off the basketball court. Young is also the co-founder and a board member of the New Rochelle Basketball Association, which was established in 2011 to provide opportunities for New Rochelle boys and girls to learn and play basketball on a competitive level as well as assisting them with their academic responsibilities.
When he graduated in 1998 from the University at Buffalo, he was the school’s all-time leading scorer, three-time first-team All-Mid-Continent Conference selection, a member of the Mid- Continent Conference All-Academic Team. The university will retire his number (No. 11) in a ceremony on March 8. He was also inducted into the Remington Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle’s Hall of Fame in 2000; the University at Buffalo’s Hall of Fame in 2004 and the New Rochelle Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
He played professional basketball in Europe from 1999 to 2000. In 2005, he joined the New Rochelle Fire Department.
“It’s really an honor to be put on that wall with so many great people,” he said at the ceremony.
