Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Albany High Class of 1980 

A sprinter and middle-distance standout at Albany High, Jackson-Peace earned a track scholarship to Howard University. She began coaching track with at-risk youth during college. After she graduated with honors from Howard, she began working as a physical therapist and continued coaching track for young people in Washington, D.C. She still does both today.

Albany High Class of 1986 

Lewis was the leader of one of the finest basketball teams in the history of Albany High – the “High Slamma Jamma” teams of the mid-1980s. He averaged better than 22 points per game for the Falcons’ 1986 Section II championship team, one of the best in school history. Lewis was among the top national recruits as a high school senior and went on to play at St. John’s University in the heyday of the Big East and later at Virginia Commonwealth.

Albany High School Class of 1936

The late Henry Linnett was a physical education teacher, three-sport coach and lifelong fitness advocate. During nearly three decades teaching in the district, Linnett was a football coach at the former Philip Schuyler High School, a basketball coach at William S. Hackett Junior High School (now Hackett Middle School) and a tennis coach at Albany High School. After his 1991 retirement, he remained active in the area’s tennis and health club scenes until his 2015 death.

Teacher and longtime administrator 

Markham began teaching science at Giffen Memorial Elementary School in 1962. He spent most of his 30-plus years in the school district as the director of child accounting and guidance, where he oversaw school guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists along with other student support services. He also worked directly with local and state officials to better serve students with isabilities, homeless students and vulnerable families. He retired in 1993.

 Albany High Class of 1999 

Valedictorian of his Albany High class, Silverman went on to graduate summa cum laude from Yale University in 2003 and Yale Law School in 2006. After two prestigious clerkships under federal judges, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut in 2010 as an assistant attorney. He also became deputy chief of the office’s appeals unit in 2014. 

Albany High School Class of 1968

An exceptional student-athlete while at Albany High, Stewart earned national recognition as a high school All-American in football. He went on to study at Columbia University and the University at Albany. In 1984, he founded Stewart Associates, a lobbying and consulting firm, and was identified as New York’s first registered independent African-American lobbyist. A prolific writer, he the is author of two history books and dozens of articles that have appeared in newspapers and scholarly journals.