Local historian Chuck Langerman has highlighted the current professional statuses of three Cheltenham alumni:
Glenn Fine (above left)
Fine, a 1974 graduate and an Alumni Association Hall of Famer, served as the inspector general of the Department of Justice from 2000 to 2011 and was the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense from 2016 to 2020.
On Thursday, October 17, Fine will be signing copies of his new book “WATCHDOGS: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government” starting at 6:30pm at Head House Books in Philadelphia (619 South 2nd Street).
The book, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 27, discusses the role inspectors general play in maintaining the integrity of U.S. government operations.
Rebecca Simms (above middle)
Simms, a 2015 graduate and Glenside native, is an attorney in the Healthcare and Long-Term Care practice group of Burns White’s Philadelphia law office.
Simms focuses her practice on the defense of doctors, hospitals, and long-term care health facilities in medical malpractice and liability matters. She also counsels and defends individuals, corporations, and healthcare institutions in both professional and employment liability matters.
A 2023 graduate of Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Psychology.
During her time in Rhode Island, she played D1 softball. During her time in Wyncote, Simms was a four-year starter at first base and helped lead the Lady Panthers to the Suburban One League softball championship her junior year.
Alyssa Michel (above right)
Michel, a 2020 graduate, is currently working as a Research Study Coordinator in Yale University’s Emotion, Health, and Psychophysiology Lab while studying for the MCAT with plans to apply to medical school in the fall.
Michel, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science at Yale, was recently featured in Yale News for discovering new passions since attending the university.
“I thought that if I swam in high school, then I would swim in college. Or if I did journalism in high school, I would have to do journalism in college,” she said. “What I didn’t expect is that you can do whatever you want. And, especially at a place like Yale, when you do something, it becomes your baby, and you invest a lot of time into it.”
In her younger days, the Elkins Park native earned the prestigious “Girl Scout Gold Award”, which is the highest honor and award a Girl Scout can achieve. Her award-winning project, “A Second Hand,” was dedicated to re-homing food that would otherwise have been wasted.
Michel created a virtual food pantry and resource hub to serve Cheltenham, Mt. Airy, Abington, and Jenkintown. Her goal was to develop a network that redistributed unwanted food from family to family as well as local homeless shelters, sanitizing and delivering it along the way.
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