Brandeis Magazine

David Mladinov, MJC’80, of Brookline, Mass., who merged his love of the arts with his goal of helping students celebrate their Jewishness, died on April 20. A native of Split in the former Yugoslavia, he organized the first performance of the Klezmer Conservatory Band in 1980 with students at the New England Conservatory of Music while he was working as outreach director for the Hillel Foundation. He was the longtime cultural arts director at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, where he founded the Jewish Theatre of New England. From 1990-2011, he was the director of development at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). He also was a noted author of short stories, with works published in the former Yugoslavia, Serbia, Israel, the United States and Britain. He leaves his wife, Branka; his daughter, Emma; his stepson, Boryan; and his sister, Mirjana Mladinov, MA’98. Ellen Foland, Heller PhD’84, of Columbus, Ohio, a professor at Ohio Dominican College who volunteered with a number of social welfare organizations, died on April 30. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland, Ellen married her high-school sweetheart, Kenneth. She earned a master’s of social work from Temple University and a PhD with a specialization in gerontology from Brandeis. The Folands moved to Columbus in 1980, when Ken joined the faculty of Ohio State University (OSU). Upon finishing graduate work, Ellen joined the faculty of Ohio Dominican as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work. After her retirement, she spent many years volunteering with social welfare organizations and at the OSU Medical Center. In addition to her husband, Ellen leaves three sisters — Deborah, Abby and Sally — and many nieces and nephews.