Eight alumni to be inducted into the new FCPS Hall of Fame

Educate Fairfax has announced the first group of distinguished alumni to be inducted into the Fairfax County Public Schools Hall of Fame.

The eight alumni include a graduate of Annandale High School and a graduate of Falls Church High School.

Educate Fairfax, formerly known as the Foundation for FCPS, raises funds for programs and supplies to benefit students and teachers.

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held May 4, 5:30-8 p.m., at the Tower Club, 8000 Towers Crescent Drive in Tysons. Tickets are $45 and must be purchased in advance.

One of the Hall of Fame inductees is Paul Misener, a business leader, engineer, inventor, and attorney, who graduated from Annandale High School in 1981.

A vice president at Amazon for more than 22 years, Misener is currently vice president for global innovation policy and communications. He testified before the U.S. Congress more than 30 times and before policymaking bodies around the world dozens of times.

He earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University and a law degree from George Mason University in 1993. He received a Distinguished Achievement award from GMU in 2001.

Misener serves on the boards of the Smithsonian’s Libraries and Archives, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and the Northern Virginia Technology Council. He is on the GMU President’s Innovation Advisory Council and chairs the foundation for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

Hall of Famer David Guernsey, a member of the Falls Church High School Class of 1966, founded Guernsey Inc., a workplace products company, in 1971. Since then, he grew Guernsey to more than $90 million in sales and employed hundreds of workers, many of whom have remained with the company for decades.

He has chaired numerous cooperative organizations, such as the National Products Association, Independent Suppliers Group, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

He has received the Anti-Defamation League Torch of Liberty Award and chaired both the Fairfax County and Arlington chambers of commerce.

Guernsey held leadership roles on the boards of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Foundation for FCPS, Northern Virginia Community College Foundation, Community Residences Inc., and the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.

The other inductees in the FCPS Hall of Fame are:

Elizabeth Moore Aubin, Langley High School Class of 1983, served in several diplomatic positions and is currently the U.S. ambassador to Algeria.

Christian Burbach, Langley High School Class of 1992, is an Air Force veteran who was awarded numerous medals for his service in combat. He is currently senior leader for federal sales with Google Cloud.

Shea Megale, Westfield High School Class of 2013, is an author, advocate for the disabled, and philanthropist. Born with spinal muscular atrophy, she traveled the world in a wheelchair and wrote several books for young adults. As a preteen, she wrote a children’s book and used the proceeds to place service dogs with people with disabilities.

Jeffrey Platenberg, West Springfield High School Class of 1979, is the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation at FCPS. He is a frequent presenter at conferences and has received numerous awards.

Lynn Symansky, James Madison High School Class of 2001, has competed internationally in top-level equestrian events. She operates a horse-training business at Handlen Farm in Middleburg during the warmer months and in Florida during the winter.

Les Williams Jr., Thomas Jefferson High School Class of 1996, is the co-founder and chief revenue officer of the Risk Cooperative insurance brokerage and advises organizations on cyber risk.