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DANIEL T. POUSTAthlete, North Penn High School, 1959 7 Varsity Letters: 3 Football, 3 Wrestling, 1 Track & Field |
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Dan was an all-around, complete package. He attained the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, an Eagle Scout; once an Eagle, always an Eagle. At North Penn High School Dan played on the football, wrestling, and track and field teams. In February of 1958 he won NPHS’s sit-up contest with 2,250, beating his own sophomore record of 1,510. Dan then went onto Muhlenberg College in September 1960 where he lettered in football, wrestling, track and field, and a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Once again football was his passion. As a freshman in a game against Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Dan sacked the quarterback for a safety and a final winning score of 2-0. Dan showed his versatility by switching from left guard to right guard where he was a standout performer on both offense and defense. He was a Tri-Captain in the 1963 football season. As a junior he was selected on the 2nd Team All-East Division I and 1st Team All-East Division I as a senior. This was quite an honor because of the caliber of opponents (Syracuse/Navy/Army/Yale/Princeton/Virginia). Muhlenberg changed to Division III after the 1963 season. Dan graduated from Muhlenberg in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Dan was named “Montgomery County Collegiate Athlete of the Year 1963” acknowledging his accomplishments while at Muhlenberg College, especially being selected on the 1st Team All-East Division I in his senior year. This honor was Carl Schuler’s Fourth Annual “Sportsmen’s Dinner” (NP Sportswriters Association) held at Gwynedd Inn. Dan was joined by Curt Simmons honored as “Montgomery County’s Professional Athlete of 1963”. From 1964-1988, Dan was head football coach of the Cannoneers Midget Football Program (now Lansdale Cannoneers Youth Football) and served as the Athletic Director. He coached 80 pound, 90 pound, and 115 pound class weights throughout his tenure but settled in with the 115 pound class always in the running for the championship. Dan also coached the Cannoneers Travel Squad and produced many quality football players that served both the North Penn and Lansdale Catholic football programs. After college and while coaching the Cannoneers, Dan worked for Kwik-Kafe of Lansdale, Inc. which his father, Ken Poust, started in the early 1950’s while still head football coach at Lansdale High School. After his dad sold the business, Dan worked for Rusk Communications (parent company of WAEB Radio Allentown) as an advertising sales representative. |
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Category Archives: 2012 Inductees
COACH KENNETH D. POUST
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COACH KENNETH D. POUSTCoach Football 1942-1951 Coach Track & Field 1943-45 Football Won-Loss Record 75-17-6 |
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Ken Poust, what a legend! According to Edgar Williams (North Penn Reporter Sportswriter), Ken was the most knowledgeable and most imaginative of football coaches. In the 1940’s the old “flying wedge” on the kickoff had been banned for years. Williams reported that during the 1948 annual Thanksgiving Game against Doylestown it was noted that if any of the rules-makers were present, you may expect a prohibition of the “Poust wedge” as employed to rip an enemy line to shreds. The “Poust wedge” isn’t illegal. It’s simply downright destructive! The Lansdale Huskies were losing 7-0 at half time and came from behind to win 20-7. As usual, the game was cleanly waged throughout. Don McCarty, Doylestown’s fine end, raced over to the Lansdale bench to congratulate Poust, prompting the Lansdale coach to comment later, “That was one of the finest expressions of good will I’ve ever seen.” Ken was always introducing new, creative plays throughout his coaching tenure. Ken was head football coach from 1942-1951 with a compiled 75-17-6 record which stood as the best Win-Loss record of 0.796 for 50 years from 1952 to 2002. His teams never finished lower than 3rd place in the tough Bux-Mont League (1st twice, 2nd six times, and 3rd twice). In 1945 his team shared 1st place with Ambler and Springfield. Dad’s 1948 team went undefeated with an 11-0 record. They outscored their opponents 359-64; 4 games opponents scored “0” points, 5 games opponents scored “7” points or less, this represents 9 out of 11 games were LHS held their opponents to one touchdown or less! The Huskies scored 40 or more points in five games and came from behind in four games to win, just outstanding, relentless play by the team and coaching to boot. The 1948 team placed four players on the 1st Team All Bux-Mont and two players on the 2nd Team with many other end of the year individual player accomplishments. Ken was the first coach to take his players to camp prior to the start of the football season. He did this in August 1948 (lead to the undefeated team) at Camp Onus outside of Boyertown. Six of dad’s former players and his 1948 Undefeated team have previously been honored by the NPAAA; Dick Albright (1949), Jim Church (1950), and Wayne “Pud” Helman (1944) who went on to become one of the most feared and wining coaches in the Bux-Mont League, all in 2005; Tom Nolan (1949) in 2007; and Dad’s 1948 Undefeated Football Team, Eugene H. Saylor (1946), and Frank Malack (1948) all in 2008. Ken while teaching, coaching, and playing semi-professional football for a local team (Falcons) also started a vending business (Kwik-Kafe of Lansdale, Inc.) in 1948 (his championship season) to augment his teaching income. He resigned his teaching and coaching positions in 1952 to devote full attention to his growing, lucrative business. The business grew to include Mountaineer Coffee Vending Service of Clarksburg, WV. Ken eventually sold the business to ARA and retired. Ken started his football prowess at Allentown High School (now William Allen High School) from 1930-1933. He played on their 1930 and 1931 undefeated teams, lettered at left guard, and was Co-Captain his senior year. From 1935-1938 Ken attended Muhlenberg College where he was a standout performer at left guard for three years and Co-Captain in 1937. He was named to every All-Opponent team on the Muhlenberg College schedule and a unanimous choice on the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference Mythical All-Conference team. He was cited as an All-East and Little All-American selection. Ken was a member of the Varsity “M” Club, track team, Kappa Phi Kappa teaching fraternity, and graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Philosophy. Dad’s first teaching/coaching position was at Pen Argyl High School from 1938-1941. He taught Social Studies, was the head football coach with a 20-7 record, as well as, played football for the Knight Riders, a legendary local Semi-Pro football team. It was here that he met and married his wife, the former Lorraine Jean Smith who was his rock and biggest supporter until her untimely death in 1963 at the young age of 41 years. He was one of the founding members of Indian Valley Country Club in 1952. He served on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County School for Physically Handicapped Children since its founding. He was Vice President of the Alpha Gamma Sigma social fraternity, a member of the Lansdale Lions, and a former President of the Norristown Chapter of P.I.A.A. Basketball Officials. Dad was nominated by Dr. Erling N. Jensen, president of Muhlenberg College, for the Sports Illustrated 1962 Silver Anniversary All-America Team, a very prestigious award. He was among five Pennsylvanians out of a group of 59 throughout the nation. Other nominees included U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White, Jordan Oliver (Yale University coach), Clint Frank (Clinton E. Frank, Inc.), and U.S. Naval Captain James G. Andrews (U.S. Naval Academy). The purpose of the award is “to emphasize the pursuit of the rounded human values in which athletics and education are joined.” This award is unique, however, in that nomination alone is regarded as a special honor since colleges and universities do not nominate in a year when they do not have a candidate of winning caliber. |
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EDWIN S. KNEEDLER
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Edwin S. KneedlerNorth Penn High School 1963 Top 10 Percent of Graduating Class NPHS
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Ed was on the Track and Field Team at North Penn, running sprint events. Ed is especially grateful to this day for the calm coaching and encouragement Coach Crawford gave him, even though Ed was not a star runner on the team, and for the discipline he learned as a result. Ed also was on the Cross-Country Team, played in the Band, and was literary editor of the Accolade. Ed’s experience at North Penn – in academics, athletics, other extra-curricular activities, school spirit, mentoring by teachers like Ken Weir, and lasting friendships – formed a strong foundation for his life. Ed had deeper roots at North Penn too: his father, Harry Kneedler, taught and coached in Lansdale in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and his mother, Isabella Jones, taught and was a guidance counselor in Lansdale and at North Penn for almost 30 years.After graduating from North Penn in 1963, Ed attended Lehigh University, where he received a B.S. in Economics in 1967. Ed served as a VISTA Volunteer from 1968 to 1971, first at a Job Corps Center for disadvantaged youth in Eastern Oregon, and then with a program for migrant farm workers in Western Oregon. Impressed with the work lawyers had done on behalf of migrant farm workers, and encouraged by his brother Lane (NPHS ‘59), who is a lawyer, Ed decided to pursue a career in the law and attended the University of Virginia Law School from 1971 to 1974. After earning his J.D., he served for a year as a law clerk for Judge James Browning of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 1975 to the present, Ed has worked in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington. He first served in the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which at that time was headed by now-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. OLC advises the President, the Attorney General, and federal agencies on various legal issues. Since 1979, Ed has been in the Office of the Solicitor General, which represents the United States Government before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been a Deputy Solicitor General since 1993, and served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States in 2009, prior to the appointment of now-Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to be Solicitor General. Ed has argued 113 cases before the Supreme Court, more than any other lawyer in active practice. Ed’s responsibilities cover a range of issues in federal government cases before the Supreme Court, including the separation of powers under the Constitution, the First Amendment, international law, Indian law, public land and water law, ERISA, health care, and Medicare and other government benefit programs. Ed has argued a number of cases on behalf of the federal government in the lower federal courts as well, including most recently the suit brought by the United States to challenge the Arizona immigration statute as inconsistent with the federal government’s responsibilities. Ed is now also assisting in the Justice Department’s defense in court of the constitutionality of the health care reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Ed regards it as a real privilege to have worked for the Department of Justice and to have represented the United States in court for his career. Ed’s wife Lynn has been a loving and supportive companion for 39 years. They met while Ed was serving as a VISTA Volunteer, and she now works for the Peace Corps. Lynn and Ed have two daughters, Jennie, who is a lawyer in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, and Anne, who with her husband Sam lives in Minneapolis and works for Cargill Corporation. |
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GERSON “Gus” ROSENBERG
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GERSON “Gus” ROSENBERG, Ph.D.North Penn High School 1962 C. McCollister Evarts, M.D. Professor in Artificial Organs Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering Chief, Division of Artificial Organs Co-Director of Penn State Institute for Biomedical Engineering Penn State College of Medicine The principal investigator of the electric total artificial heart and heart assist project at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Part of the team that developed the Penn State Pneumatic Heart, one of the first air-driven artificial heart and assist models for temporary use in humans as a bridge to a transplant. Developed a mock circulatory system that is used to evaluate blood pumps and later was established as a standard mock system by the National Institutes of Health. Shares a patent on an artificial heart and has submitted four other patents for approval. Has written over 300 book chapters, abstracts and journal articles on artificial organs, specifically heart and heart assist devices. Outstanding Alumnus Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz Campus, 1982 Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medicine and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 1992 Member , Sigma Xi, ASAIO, Biomaterials society, Life member ASME Engineer of the Year by Design News Magazine, 2002 Alumni Fellow, Penn State Alumni Association, 2003 President, American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO), 2004-2005 B.S., Pennsylvania State University, Mechanical Engineering, 1970 M.S., Pennsylvania State University, Mechanical Engineering, 1972 Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, Medical Engineering, 1975 Post Doctoral Scholar, Pennsylvania State University, College of Engineering, 1975-1976 INDUCTED 2012 |
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Gerson Rosenberg, Ph.D. is the C. McCollister Evarts, MD Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering; Chief of the Division of Artificial Organs, and Co-Director for the Biomedical Engineering Institute at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In high school Gus could best be described as “non academic.” He did very well in the school’s vocational program, and did not consider attending college. Upon graduation Gus went to work for a local roofing and sheet metal company. On one particular job he was exposed to several engineers, which sparked an interest in the profession. Gus became friends with a bright young engineering student attending Drexel University. He was so impressed with his new friend’s knowledge and ability to understand complex scientific problems that Gus decided he also had to attend college to better understand the science and engineering. After a year of night school Gus became a full time engineering student. In 1966 he joined the Army ROTC program and in 1970 graduated with a BS in Mechanical engineering, and received his commission in the US Army. Gus displayed a passion for all things mechanical with a heightened curiosity of how things worked. The vocational program at North Penn provided Gus invaluable skills that he has applied though out his engineering career in designing, building, and testing devices. He was especially fascinated with sports cars, and to this day continues to design, build, and race sports cars in SCCA national competition. Gus became interested in Biomedical Engineering, the Artificial Heart and assisted circulation after hearing a presentation by a young physician Dr William S Pierce. Little did he know at the time that the course of his career was being set? Gus went on to earn a masters and PhD degree in mechanical engineering at Penn State. His thesis research spanned the design of a mock circulatory system to test blood pumps to the study of the effect of assisted circulation on myocardial oxygen consumption. Upon completing his Ph.D. and six months of active duty time in the Army, Gus joined the Penn State faculty, and in 1976 moved to the Milton S Hershey Medical Center to conduct his research. Dr. Rosenberg has over 35 years of experience in the design, development and application of various circulatory support and heart replacement devices. He considers himself very fortunate to have had some of the world leaders in the field as mentors and later friends and had the privilege of leading the Artificial Organs Division consisting of some of the finest individuals in the field. He has been the principal investigator on NIH grants totaling over $30 million dollars. Dr. Rosenberg currently directs efforts on the development of two circulatory support devices to assist the failing heart. Dr. Rosenberg was part of the original team that developed the current clinically available Pierce-Donachy left ventricular assist device marketed by Thoratec. He was the principal investigator on the development on the Penn State Electric Total Artificial Heart. This device is currently under development by Abiomed, Inc. and is referred to as the AbioCor II device. In addition, Dr. Rosenberg led the team that developed the Arrow LionHeart™, the world’s first completely implantable left ventricular assist device that was utilized in 30 patients. He is quick to give credit to the many people that work on the projects and to point out that without the interdisciplinary effort their success would be greatly diminished. Dr. Rosenberg has over 300 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters. He has received funding from the Whitaker Foundation to establish the Biomedical Engineering Institute at Hershey. He has developed a graduate course on the design of artificial organs. Dr. Rosenberg has received several awards for his work. In 2002 he was named “Engineer of the Year” by Design News Magazine. He is a Penn State Alumni Fellow; a Founding Fellow of the AIMBE, and a life member of the ASME. Dr. Rosenberg has been a member of NIH Study Sections. He is an active reviewer for several journals. Dr. Rosenberg is the past president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, and is recognized worldwide as a leader in the design; development and evaluation of total heart and heart assist devices. He has advised and mentored numerous students in the colleges of engineering and medicine. To this day Dr. Rosenberg still has his “vocational roots” and continues his interest in sports car. He is an accomplished race car designer, builder and driver, competing for the past 26 years in SCCA national racing in cars that he constructed. Dr. Rosenberg and his wife Irene are the proud parents of two daughters; Kate, a surface warfare officer in the Navy currently serving as on the USS Vicksburg CG69 and daughter Lisa, busy raising two lovely children ages four and six. |
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