Haverford School Board Member Named Engineer of the Year

The Haverford School Board began Thursday night meeting by honoring a fellow board member, who was named Engineer of the Year, and as the meeting neared its end, the board lauded a high school wrestling coach who plans to retire after 43 years.

School Board member Dr. Joseph Martin was unable to attend Thursday night’s meeting because he was in Media receiving an Engineer of the Year award from the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, school board President Denis Gray said at the meeting’s start.

Martin, an engineering professor at Drexel University, “has mentored more engineers than any of us will ever know,” Gray said.

Gray said it was unfortunate that the awards ceremony was on the same night as the school board meeting because board members would have like to have been with Martin at the ceremony.

Drexel University’s website featured a news article about Martin’s award which said:

“Dr. Martin, who is a tenured professor in Drexel’s Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Department and the Associate Director of the Engineering Management Program, was granted this high honor out of a competitive field based upon his 29 years teaching engineers at Drexel University, published technical papers, career awards, and active community service.”

Martin has served on the Haverford School Board since 2003.

James Jones Jr. Honored 

Later in the meeting, the school board unanimously approved a resolution honoring James Jones Jr. for “43 years of distinguished service and contributions as the district’s Varsity Wrestling Coach.”

Jones, who was not at the meeting, recently informed the district that he plans to retire at the end of the wrestling season, Gray told The Haverford-Havertown Patch.

Jones has coached the sport of wrestling for 51 years and spent the last 43 years coaching at Haverford High School, Gray said.

The resolution calls Jones “a Haverford legend, both as a wrestling coach and inspirational mentor and teacher to generations of Haverford students.”

His accomplishments include being a member of three halls of fame: Haverford High School Sports, Pennsylvania Wrestling, and Southeastern Region District I Wrestling; winning five central league wrestling championships; being named “Coach of the Year” four times by the Central League, and also being named Main Line Coach of the Year in 1977, Gray said.

In 2010, Jones’ career win record surpassed the 400-win mark and with 435 wins, ranked him amongst the top 15 in the state, Gray said.

During his tenure, Jones has coached 102 individual sectional champions, 19 individual district champions, five individual regional champions and 23 state participants, including five state medal winners and one state champion, Gray said.

“He is really an institution, not only in Haverford, but also in the community.” Gray said.