Class Correspondent

Heather Hartt-Sussman wrote “Noni Says No,” a children’s book about a young girl learning to stand up for herself and still be a good friend. In a profile in the National Post in Canada, Heather said her own career experiences — she was unable to say no and burned out — were the basis for the book. “It’s all about standing up for yourself,” she says. Brian Ross lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with his wife, Pat, and their children, Ellie and Ben. The family recently returned from a trip to Madagascar, where, Brian writes, “Ben talked with an Indri Indri lemur.” President Barack Obama recently recognized the Posse Foundation’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program — the brainchild of Brandeis professor Irv Epstein and Posse founder Deborah Bial — as a vital component of his effort to ensure American competitiveness in the high-tech world of the future. Brandeis was the first college in the nation to have a Science Posse. Founded by Epstein, the Henry F. Fischbach Professor of Chemistry, and supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, the initiative encourages students to pursue the sciences. Each Science Posse member completes a two-week intensive science boot camp and enrolls in introductory science and math courses during their first year of study. The students hail from New York. Fred Meltzer lives by the beach in Hull, Mass., with Sadie the Great Dane therapy dog, works as a key account manager at Aramack Uniform Services and hopes to get married later this year or early 2013 to his girlfriend of 2 1/2 years. He writes, “I play solo gigs and am available for anyone who wants bluesy, country classic rock and silly originals thrown in at their party or function.”

From left: Myra Novogrodsky ’68, Steve, Heather, and Kim and Mark Surchin ’78.
Brandeis at large. Nearly three dozen alumni and their families attended a Faculty in the Field event with Steve Whitfield, Ph.D.’72, the Max Richter Professor of American Civilization. The discussion, titled “From Cultural Pluralism to Multiculturalism: Ideas of Diversity,” was held at the home of Heather Hartt-Sussman ’87 and her husband, Peter Sussman, in Toronto. From left: Myra Novogrodsky ’68, Steve, Heather, and Kim and Mark Surchin ’78.
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