Three local grads seeing professional success: Dr. Debbie Lewis (Abington ’77), Dr. Avery Faigenbaum (Cheltenham ’79), Danny Pommells (McDevitt ’97)

Local historian Chuck Langerman has highlighted the current professional statuses of three local alumni.

Dr. Debbie Lewis, DMD

Dr. Lewis, a 1977 graduate of Abington High School, is the owner of Debbie M Lewis Family Dentistry in Wilkinsburg (Allegheny County, PA).

Before graduating from Abington, Lewis accepted a scholarship offer to play for the women’s basketball team at the University of Pittsburgh, where was an instrumental figure from 1977 to 1981. She is the Pitt women’s all-time career assists leader (638) and is second in steals (250) and fourth in points (1,941). She still holds two single-game Pitt records that never have been broken—by men or women.

She went on graduate from Pitt’s dental school in 1988.

In 2022, she was inducted into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame.


Dr. Avery Faigenbaum

Dr. Faigenbaum, a 1979 Cheltenham High School graduate and The College of New Jersey Professor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, recently took home the American College of Sports Medicine’s “Best Paper of the Year Award” for the second time in three years.

Dr. Faigenbaum’s most recent winning article explores the interactions between physical and mental health, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on youth fitness.

He teaches a wide range of courses covering health promotion, exercise prescription, and clinical exercise physiology. His research interests focus on pediatric exercise science, resistance exercise, and preventive medicine.

Dr. Faigenbaum, who received his BS, MS, and EdD from Boston University, was a member of coach Tom Sexton’s cross-country team at Cheltenham and won the prestigious Holden award his senior year.

Danny Pommells

Pommells, a 1997 graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School and a five-time Emmy winner, is currently an anchor/host/reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia.

He served as a sportswriter and anchor for Comcast SportsNet from 2012 to 2018.

Pommels was a member of the Lancers’ boys basketball team and went on to graduate from Temple University in 2002.

Pommels in his early years, courtesy of Instagram

Check out his 2023 appearance on The Blend:

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