Class Correspondent

Thanks to all who attended and helped out with our Reunion this year. It was a fantastic success. I continue to serve as the spokesman and press secretary for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick at the State House in Boston. I was fortunate enough to join the governor on a five-day trade mission to Israel in March that was truly exceptional and, dare I say, life changing? I have also eagerly taken my first shot at teaching this past spring, joining the adjunct faculty at Emerson College. I teach a senior-level seminar in political communications. Hope to see everyone again at our 10th Reunion!

Riley Konara is a second-year medical student at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland and is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps. He will be visiting Peru (Machu Picchu) this summer after his medical boards.

Andrew Katz, M.A.’07, became engaged to Sarah Passarelli ’07 in November and started a new job as a business analyst for Federated Sample in January.

Rebecca Gedalius graduated from Duke Law School and is engaged to marry Amiel Goldberg in August.

Robin Katz started a new position as outreach/public services archivist at the Brooklyn Historical Society in New York.

Edgar Ndjatou is an employment lawyer at Alan Banov and Associates in Silver Spring, Md. Edgar is the membership committee chair of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.

Ava Morgenstern and Daniel Muenz are engaged. After five years living in Boston, they’re about to start Ph.D. programs this fall at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Ava will study sociology with a focus on international development. Daniel will study biostatistics.

Lauren Mariani married Elliot Kendall ’04 on Jan. 2 at her grandparents’ house in Seminole, Fla. Lauren is pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Emory University. Elliot works in information security at the school. 

Gwen Tulin is the artistic director of Brain Surgeon Theater, an innovative children’s theater company in Chicago. She is also a practicing playwright, director, actor and songwriter (www.gwentulin.com). She lives in Chicago with her two cats, Oliver and Stanley, and practices the ukulele every day. 

Joshua Simmons joined the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis as an intellectual property litigator. In his short time at Kirkland, he has worked for clients from various industries, including media and entertainment, computer software and video games, fashion and luxury accessories, and telecommunications. He recently represented the Associated Press in a declaratory judgment suit brought by artist Shepard Fairey arising out of his unauthorized use of the AP’s photo of President Barack Obama.

Dan Galinko is associate director with Oppenheimer Asset Management, a subsidiary of Oppenheimer & Co.

Rachel Present received a master’s degree in government at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, and started working in the International Relations Department of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Jerusalem.

On June 20, 2010, Benjamin Farber and Joanna Glauber were married in Philadelphia. Ben and Joanna met as Brandeis sophomores and have been together ever since. Several Brandeis alumni attended the wedding, including Sarah Bingel, Elyssa Geschwind, Ashley (Gibbs) Narayan, Mikey Besch, Lindsay Kaplan, Jordan Karney, David Oppenheimer, David Firestein ’05 and Eric Fesco ’05.

Kim Ash has spent the last few years working for her family business, Sam Ash Music, as a web marketing manager. She’s excited about starting graduate school in September at New York University’s Interactive Technology Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.

While on vacation in La Jolla, Calif., in January, Jason Hyne and Elissa Glucksman got engaged. The wedding is set for Sept. 2, 2012. Once Jason’s clerkship ends in August, they are planning to move to New York, where he will join the law firm of Cole Schotz as an associate.

Lalin Anik received a Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research from Harvard Business School. Her research, which explores the impact of social interactions on the perceptions, preferences and behaviors of people, has managerial and market implications for shaping consumers’ behavior in social contexts.

Shayna Skelley Coburn married Avi Coburn ’04 in June 2010. Shayna is pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Arizona State University.

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