Introducing the 2023 Cultural Hall of Fame Inductees

THOMAS J FLYNN, PhD. Class of 1965 – BIOCHEMIST

Tom Flynn received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Temple University School of Medicine. After several years as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Temple University, Tom accepted a position as a Research Chemist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1980 and remained there until his retirement in 2018. Tom’s work focused on the development of novel, non-animal safety testing methods for chemicals found in food. Tom’s work was recognized by the Agency when he was presented with the FDA Commendable Service Award in 1990, the FDA Outstanding Achievement Award in 1999, and the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s Exceptional Achievement Award in 2011. In 2008, Tom was awarded a grant by the FDA Office of Women’s Health to study, using cultured human liver cells, the role of sex hormones and inflammation as biological factors that contribute to known gender differences in susceptibility to chemical-induced liver Injury. In 2009, Tom was awarded by the FDA/University of Maryland Joint Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition, as co-Principal Investigator, a grant for $250,000 for two years for a study, using cultured human liver cells, to characterize dietary supplement and food components with potential to cause liver toxicity and food-drug interactions.

Over the course of his career in research, Tom authored or co-authored fifty-one original, peer-reviewed research papers, six peer-reviewed scientific review articles, four book chapters, and eighty-five technical abstracts. Tom was an elected member of and participated actively in several professional organizations including The American Chemical Society, The Society of Toxicology, The Society for In Vitro Biology, and The Association of Government Toxicologists

Tom was also actively involved in community outreach oriented professional activities including participation in the American Chemical Society’s “Kids and Chemistry” program, served as a mentor and judge at various high schools for students in senior research programs including the County Public School Science and Technology Fair. He also served as a mentor for students in the University of Maryland’s Gemstone Program and on the Society of Toxicology’s K-12 Outreach Task Force Committee

Tom’s commitment to mentoring, both of junior level scientists within the Agency and of students outside the Agency was recognized by the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in 2017 when he was presented with the Legacy Award “For a legacy of mentoring in areas of research and review.

Tom was married for forty-one years to the late Pat McGuire, he has a son David and a daughter Ellen, and he currently resides in Laurel, Maryland.

DAVID JAY WOLF CLASS OF 1972 – FORENSIC SCIENTIST

David graduated SPHS in 1972 and attended Drexel University. He graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. In 1978 he was hired as an Analytical Chemist for the United States Environmental Protection Agency doing trace metal analyses of environmental water samples. From 1979 to 1981 he was employed as an Analytical Chemist for the University of Pennsylvania doing drug screening for the Methadone Program. From 1982 to 2014 David worked for the City of Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Police Forensic Crime Laboratory. Starting as an Analytical Chemist I which included forensic chemistry work at the entry level, performing analysis of controlled and non-controlled substances. David worked himself up to a Forensic Scientist II at the Philadelphia Police Forensic Crime Laboratory doing instrumental analyses, going out to, and securing Clandestine drug Labs and testifying in court as an expert witness in the field of drug analyses.

David continued his education in forensic science receiving training in drug identification, Ion Trap and Quadrapole Mass Spectronomy, High Pressure Liquid Chromatography, Capillary Gas Chromatography, maintaining and repairing GC/MS systems and laboratory automation. He attended certification training seminars in Law enforcement Forum on Designer Drugs and Clandestine Drug Laboratories.

Dave has testified as a Qualified Expert Witness in the field of drug analyses for many types of drug cases for the Pennsylvania Courts of Municipal and Common Pleas, United States District Court, and Mt. Holly New Jersey Court.

David also enjoys playing piano, working on automobiles, and riding in vintage WW2 Aircraft at Air Shows. He is a member of American Chemical Society, Police Department Advisory Committee and Drexel University Alumni Association.
David lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Grace.

JOEL LESON CLASS OF 1961 – COLONEL U.S. ARMY (RETIRED)

Joel is a SPHS graduate of the class of January 1961. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Business Administration from Temple University and a Master of Science in Forensic Science from The George Washington University. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, the Federal Executive Institute, and the US Secret Service Protective Operations Course.

His military schooling includes the Armor Officer Basic and Military Police Officer Advances Courses, the Army Command and General Staff College, a Research Fellowship at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the Army’s Battalion and Brigade Pre-Command Courses.

Joel spent his Senior Service College year as a research fellow in National Security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is also a graduate of the Kennedy School’s Program for Senior Officials in National Security During his 26 years of active-duty service, from 1965 to 1991, he made major contributions to the evolution of the Army Military Police Corps.

His command assignments were marked by extraordinary leadership and innovation. His Military Police doctrinal, force structure and combat equipment developmental skills remain visible on the battlefield today. As one of the original members of the US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), he went on to command CID units in the United States and Germany.

His command assignments were marked by his far-reaching imagination and initiatives in Army law enforcement. Joel has received many honors and awards, including three awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, four awards of the Air Medal, one of which was for valor, three Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He was also awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge for his service in combat in Vietnam. Joel was an airborne paratrooper and a member of a helicopter crew in combat.

In 2003 Joel was the recipient of the Department of Defense (DOD), Office of Inspector General’s Distinguished Service Award. He has been inducted into the US Army Criminal Investigation Command and US Army Military Police Corps Halls of Fame. Joel was a. member of the Federal Senior Executive Service for 14 years.

He was a supervisory criminal investigator at the DOD Inspector General’s Office where he served as the Assistant Inspector General for Criminal Investigative Policy and Oversight and then as the Director for Administration and Information Management.

In 2005, after 40 years of military and civilian service, Joel retired from the federal government. He became the Director of the Center for Police Leadership at the International Association of Chiefs of Police until he fully retired in
2007.