Brandeis Magazine

Robert Perlman, Heller PhD’61, G’14, of Newton, Mass., a member of the Heller School of Social Policy and Management’s first graduating class and later a longtime member of the faculty, died on Sept. 21, 2012. The founder of Action for Boston Community Development in the early 1960s, Robert was a respected scholar of community organizations and social planning. He retired from Brandeis as professor emeritus. “In his scholarship, teaching and practice, he did much to help the most vulnerable in our society,” says Lisa Lynch, the Heller dean and the Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy. “He touched many lives at Heller and more broadly in the social policy world.” Robert leaves his wife of 65 years, Bernice; two sons, David and Dan, P’14; his daughter, Judy; and six grandchildren, including Jeremy Perlman ’14. Elinor (Rosen) Dumont ’62, of Washington, D.C., and Paris, France, died on Aug. 22, 2012. She earned advanced degrees from Barnard College and the University of Washington before starting her career as a teachers’ trainer in the Open Corridor Program of the New York City school system. She later worked as a cataloger in the serials division at the University of Washington, then as a research librarian for a law firm. In Washington, D.C., she was employed as a librarian for many years at the American Bankers Association and more recently at the International Food Policy Research Institute. She leaves her husband, Jean Paul, and two brothers, David and Paul. Ellen Silverstein ’62, a radiologist at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, died on Nov. 16, 2012, after a prolonged illness. She was a member of the Opera Club of the Metropolitan Opera and an avid supporter of the arts in New York City. She leaves a brother, Michael. Philip Wagreich ’62, a national leader in math education and retired director of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Institute for Mathematics and Science Education, died Jan. 1 of a heart attack. A professor emeritus of mathematics, statistics and computer science at UIC and an expert on algebraic geometry, he joined the faculty in 1973. In 1985, he turned his attention to revitalizing education and founded the Office of Mathematics and Computer Education within the department. Under his leadership, it became a major center for mathematician-led work in mathematics education. He is survived by his wife, Lorraine; two daughters, Heidi and Amy; two sons, Ian and Alexander; and four grandchildren. Robert Evans, MA’64, PhD’65, of Cambridge, Mass., a longtime professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and an actor with the Group 20 Players, died on June 22, 2012, from complications related to congestive heart failure. A graduate of the History of Ideas program at Brandeis, Robert penned a graduate thesis that was later published as the book “Pantheisticon: The Career of John Toland.” He taught European history, historiography, Greek philosophy and world drama at UMass Boston until 1990. With writer Henry Timm, he co-founded the New England Playwrights Guild, devoted to the production of original plays by American authors. In retirement, he lectured at the Boston Ethical Society and became a member of the Tuesday Club, a group that met at the Casablanca restaurant in Cambridge to discuss literary matters and politics. He leaves two sons, Robert and James, and his daughter, Merian. Peter Hurwitz, MA’65, PhD’66, of Walpole, Mass., the owner of Chem-Netics, died on Sept. 9, 2012, from injuries sustained in a boat racing accident. He leaves his wife, Louise, and a daughter, Hillary. Erica Kremen Rosenthal ’65, of Washington, D.C., a pioneer in protecting the legal rights of children, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) at her home on Nov. 26, 2012. After graduating from Brandeis, she attended New York University School of Law. As an attorney, she advocated for children in the family court system and facilitated adoptions. A voracious reader, she loved English literature and mysteries. She also enjoyed traveling. She spoke fluent French; understood Yiddish, Italian and Spanish; and studied Japanese during the time her son lived in Japan. She leaves her husband of 45 years, Douglas; her son, Ben; her daughter, Lizzie; her mother, Ruth; her sister, Andrea; and her granddaughter, Josefina. David Meredith, MA’66, PhD’69, of El Sobrante, Calif., a longtime math professor at San Francisco State University (SFSU), died on Dec. 11, 2012, after suffering complications during heart valve surgery. After graduating from Brandeis, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and was an instructor at MIT. David joined the SFSU faculty in 1972, conducting research in the field of algebraic geometry. He retired in 2012. He leaves his wife, Idell; his son, Clark; his brother, Joel; his sister, Cynthia; and two grandchildren, Daveri and Danica. Asim Erdilek ’67, of Beachwood, Ohio, a professor emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, died on Dec. 9, 2012, of complications from cancer. A native of Turkey who came to Brandeis through the Wien International Scholarship Program, he was class valedictorian and a member of the soccer team. He went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from Harvard. Asim taught at Case Western from 1971-2010, chaired the economics department from 1991-96, and oversaw the department’s transfer from the College of Arts and Sciences to the Weatherhead School of Management. He specialized in Turkish and international economics. He contributed to The Wall Street Journal’s European edition and many scholarly journals. He was a visiting scholar at the National Science Foundation, Turkey’s Bilkent University and Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He leaves his wife, Serpil, and two daughters, Selin and Melis. Yehuda Elkana, PhD’68, of Jerusalem, a distinguished science historian and philosopher who served as president of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary, died of cancer on Sept. 21, 2012. He taught at many leading universities, including Harvard. He served as CEU’s president from 1999-2009, transforming the university from a regional experiment in post-Communist education into a respected graduate institution of the social sciences and humanities. He helped develop CEU into a major center of intellectual life in Central and Eastern Europe, educating thousands of students from the region and beyond to contribute to the building of open societies. A survivor of Auschwitz, Yehuda criticized what he labeled the “Holocaust industry” and Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. He wrote that the motive behind Israel’s approach to the Palestinians was “a profound existential ‘angst’ fed by a particular interpretation of the lessons of the Holocaust and the readiness to believe that the whole world is against us, and that we are the eternal victim.” He leaves his wife, Yehudit, two daughters and two sons. Anthony “Tony” Scariano ’68, of Flossmoor, Ill., a nationally recognized school attorney, died at his Colorado vacation home on Dec. 26, 2012. His firm, Scariano, Himes and Petrarca, represented more than 100 school districts, special education cooperatives and vocational education cooperatives, predominantly in Illinois. The firm had offices in downtown Chicago, Waukegan and Chicago Heights. Tony concluded hundreds of agreements between teacher unions and boards of education, and devoted considerable litigation time to court battles concerning student rights and responsibilities, and the defense of sex discrimination and civil rights cases. He taught at Northwestern University, Western Illinois University and Northern Illinois University. He leaves his son, Anthony, and a grandchild. Kathy Yoselson ’68, of Ithaca, N.Y., died of cancer on Oct. 20, 2012. She leaves her husband, Neil Golder ’67, and her brother, Barry. Allan “Rocco” MacDougall, MA’69, of Brookline, Mass., for decades a beloved teacher at Newton North High School, died on Oct. 12, 2012, after a sudden illness. After earning a master’s degree in American civilization from Brandeis, he joined the Newton North staff, teaching American history and a well-liked course on American popular culture. In 1975, he and his wife, fellow teacher JoEllen Hillyer, organized and performed in the annual Rocco’s Rock ’n’ Roll Review, which morphed into the Ric and Rocco Show. In addition to his wife, he leaves two daughters, Kate and Cynthia, and his brother, John.