Class Correspondent

After getting through the mildest of New York winters, it was great to spend some time with family for Passover. This summer, we are looking forward to a visit from our older daughter, who lives in California. It will be her first time back in our house in a few years, and there are definitely a few drawers and closet shelves we’d love to see her clean out while we are enjoying the pleasure of her company. As always, it is wonderful hearing from many of you and catching up with your interesting lives. Please keep sending in your Class Notes.

Financial services attorney Philip Cedar joined BuckleySandler as counsel in the firm’s New York office. He has more than 30 years of experience in financial services industry matters, both in private practice and as a senior in-house counsel. Prior to joining Buckley­Sandler, Philip was a partner in the financial services group at K&L Gates. He also served as a senior managing director in the legal department at Bear Stearns, covering the firm’s fixed income, mortgage and asset-backed businesses. Philip began his career as a litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Judith Tolnick Champa has become the new editor-in-chief of Art New England, a venerable bimonthly magazine in Boston. Carl Belz, the director and curator of the Rose Art Museum from 1974-98, contributed a book review to the May/June issue. Judith writes, “Buy Art New England on newsstands, or better, subscribe!” John-Peter Dunn, P’13, writes, “Andrea and I are adjusting to an empty home as our triplets near the end of their college years. Jared ’13 is at Brandeis majoring in computer science and business, and is captain of the sailing team. He’s been working as an intern for Awareness, a Boston-based social networking company. His sisters just finished a semester abroad. Jessica (University of Massachusetts-Amherst ’13) attended the University of Cape Town, where she sailed as well. Mariah (Olin ’13) was at the National University of Singapore. Both girls traveled to exotic locations during their semesters away: Jessica to Botswana on a safari, and Mariah to Cambodia, Thailand, Bali and Vietnam. The possibility of a trip to Vietnam meant something different to all of us when we attended Brandeis. In our off time, Andrea and I like to cycle, ski and sail.” Susan Feigenbaum’s decade-long labor of love, her introductory textbook, “Principles of Macroeconomics: The Way We Live,” was published recently. With that off her desk, she is now working on placing her 17-year-old high-school juniors in three separate colleges. In March, she returned from a 17-day, 15-campus road trip with the threesome, and writes, “Yes, Brandeis was on the list!” Bob Jaffe continues to work as an actor and director in New York. He was recently inducted as an artist member into the venerable Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he also serves as board chair. The Berkshire Playwrights Lab, where Bob is co-artistic director, is currently in its fifth season of developing new works. He also is part of the acting company of Loving the Living Playwright, a New York University class taught by Suzan-Lori Parks, at which he recently had the pleasure of performing in the reading of a play by Rachel Schroeder ’93. Dan Klein writes, “My older daughter, Lauren, graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work in December. She is now in Seattle developing and running a program for Somali refugee children under the auspices of AmeriCorps. Hi to all my classmates!” Caroline Leavitt’s 2011 novel, “Pictures of You,” was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. She was recently a featured speaker at a Brandeis National Committee Book and Author Luncheon in Palm Beach, Fla., where she shared stories about her terrifying undergraduate creative-writing class with then- professor Alan Lelchuk. Her new novel, “Is It Tomorrow,” set in Waltham circa the 1950s and 1960s, will be published next year. She can be reached through her website. Jane Goldman Ostrowsky, P’06, P’13, joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Newton Centre, Mass., in January and enjoys the increased activity from being part of a larger agency. Her husband, Mark Ostrowsky, works for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services. Their daughter, Sharon, graduated from the Bank Street College of Education in New York with a master’s degree in school leadership. Their older son, David ’06, started an M.B.A. program at Bentley College and bought a condo in South Natick with his wife, Lauren Schreider ’04. Their younger son, Jonathan ’13, is editor of the Brandeis Hoot and is on the men’s varsity tennis team. Last but not least, their 14-year-old cockapoo, Sandy, still enjoys his long walks and play dates with his doggy friends. Jeff Phillips, P’12, and his wife, Phyllis, are proud to report that their daughter, Elyse ’12, graduated from Brandeis in May with a B.S. in public health. Elyse plans to work and travel for a year and apply to graduate school for the 2013-14 academic year. Jeff works at the Government Accountability Office, an independent congressional agency, as assistant director in the international affairs and trade group. Phyllis works at the Washington Hospital Center as a certified nutrition support clinician. Their son, Scott, is a 2009 graduate of the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C., and works at Information Builders as an inside sales representative. Tom Phillips scored the soundtrack for the American Museum of Natural History’s special exhibit, “Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence,” which opened in March and will run until January 2013. The soundtrack consists of originally composed classical music influenced by the styles of Vivaldi, Debussy, Stravinsky and Saint-Saëns. The music changes from room to room as the visitor goes from deep-sea creatures, to fireflies, to glowworms, and so on. Next on the project list is a three-hour “American Experience” program on the abolitionists, to be completed in September for broadcast during PBS’s 2013 schedule. Since 2008, Sandra Pinel has been a member of the faculty in conservation social sciences and academic coordinator for community planning at the University of Idaho. She invites alumni to visit her in the inland Northwest. Her summer plans include research in southern Ecuador and a long-awaited trip with her family to see former housemate Margaret McBride ’75 and her family, who live in Norway. Sandra also hears from Sachar International Scholar alumni from Nigeria, Indonesia and Peru. She writes, “The international program was the greatest personal benefit of a Brandeis education.” Betsy Sarason Pfau and Dan Pfau ’73 write that their son, Jeffrey, graduated from Brown in December 2011. In March, they helped him move to California, where he started a job with Apple. They then continued down the coast to visit with Roger ’73 and Francine Ladd Sohn at their homes in PGA West and Los Angeles. Marvin Pinkert is now the executive director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland. He apologizes to any Brandeis alumni who missed his tours of the National Archives but expects to catch up with them at his new venue. His wife, Melanie Terner Pinkert ’75, is working toward her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland and will soon begin fieldwork in Turkey. Their daughter, Anna, is now a radio producer. Their son, Alan, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in May, and landed a position as a software consultant in Ann Arbor, Mich. Paula Rabinowitz writes that the second volume of her four-volume series, “Exchanging Clothes: Habits of Being 2,” which she is co-editing with Cristina Giorcelli, will be published this summer. The first volume, “Accessorizing the Body: Habits of Being 1,” appeared last year. Last fall, Paula gave a series of talks at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University in Canberra. In March, she was in Japan, where she participated in lectures and seminars at Nagoya University and Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. Basil Racheotes writes, “I have two sons in college, one a grad student at the University of Maryland, the other an undergrad at George Washington University. The men who inspired my fondest memories — and were also my greatest influences — were Professor Peter Grippe, the heart and soul of the art department at Brandeis, and the incomparable Professor Ludovico Borgo, whose passion for the art of the Italian Renaissance enriched the lives and intellects of all who were privileged to attend his lectures.” Basil worked for many years as the studio assistant to sculptor Reuben Nakian and is now operating a carpentry business and doing his own sculpture, which can be viewed at Basilart.com. In response to the request to the class to write a note and let us know that “you’re still somewhere on the planet,” it was great to hear from Yolanda Robinson, who replied, “Living in Durham, N.C. Still on the planet.” Steven Ruby was named chair of the Department of Surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn. St. Francis is a major component of the teaching program at the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine and the integrated residency in general surgery. Steven will continue his clinical work as a vascular surgeon. After writing 10 volumes of poetry and two memoirs, Alan Shapiro, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of North Carolina, recently wrote his first novel. “Broadway Baby” tells the story of Jewish stage mother Miriam Bluestein and the children she pushes and neglects. “You know how anti-Semites always say that some of their best friends are Jews? Well, I used to say some of my best friends were fiction writers,” Shapiro told the Jewish Advocate. “People admire poetry, but they don’t read it. I wanted to write something that I could give to someone and not apologize about it.” Glenn Wong, a sports management professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, spoke to about 250 prospective sports professionals and students at the school at a presentation titled “The Future of Sports Management,” sponsored by the Association of Diversity in Sport. In a rapidly changing, ultracompetitive job market and sports industry, he advised students to find what they are passionate about and take the necessary steps to reach their goals.

Submit a Class Note