Local historian Chuck Langerman has highlighted the current professional statuses of three Cheltenham High School alumni.
Nina Olson (above left)
Nina Olson, a 1971 graduate, received the American Bar Association’s 2023 Mary C. Lawton Award for Outstanding Government Service.
The former head of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, a government office dedicated to helping taxpayers solve their problems with the IRS, has devoted her career to protecting taxpayers’ rights. In the latest of several significant endeavors, she founded and serves as executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, a nonprofit corporation in Washington D.C., that advances taxpayers’ rights in the United States and internationally.
As part of her work, she promotes pro bono representation for low-income taxpayers who are involved in disputes with the IRS.
The Glenside native matriculated at Bryn Mawr College where she majored in fine arts. She earned her law degree at the North Carolina Central University School of Law at night, while working as a secretary and a bookkeeper for a lawyer during the day. At the same time, she also maintained her own painting studio.
At Cheltenham High, Olson was a National Merit Semi-Finalist super scholar.
Steven Tolliver, Jr. (above middle)
Steven Tolliver, Jr., a 2007 graduate, has been named a 2023 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star.
Tolliver is an associate attorney with Blue Bell’s Elliot Greenleaf Law Firm where he practices complex commercial litigation and transactional law with an emphasis on healthcare, complex civil litigation, employment law, contract disputes and personal injury claims.
A 2015 graduate of Villanova University Law School, he was a member of the Sports Law Society and the Black Law Students Association. He played basketball at both Cheltenham High and Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.
At Cheltenham, the 6’2″ guard was a Holden Award winner, and at F&M he captained the basketball team his senior season and played on the Diplomats’ squad that reached the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2009.
Tolliver has also given back to his hometown community, serving the youth of Cheltenham Township as a basketball coach and assistant activities coordinator with the nonprofit Cheltenham Achiever’s Network.
Phil Zipin (above right)
Phil Zipin, a 1974 graduate, has been named the 2024 Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA) Lawyer of the Year.
MWELA gives the annual award to an employment lawyer whose work reflects the highest level of professionalism, commitment to employee rights, and unusual achievement.
Zipin is a Maryland attorney who focuses on employment law and in counseling/assisting small and start-up businesses.
A soccer and basketball standout during his Wyncote days, Zipin went on to graduate from Haverford College in 1978 as the school’s all-time leading soccer scorer. He scored four goals in a game three times during his collegiate career.
All four of Zipin’s siblings graduated from Cheltenham, including his twin brother, Matt (1974), his sister Tina (1972), his late brother Peter (1965), and his brother Lee (1970).
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