Class Correspondent

Julie’s Corner, a gathering area near the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Campus Center, was dedicated in memory of the late Julie Siminoff Sisskind. Mark Fischer, Risa Levine, Robin Sherman, Heidi (Segall) Levy ’85 and Josh Levy ’85 would like to thank Julie’s family, classmates and many friends who contributed to the establishment of this special place. Alison Kur ’83, MA’02, executive director of Jewish living at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Mass., won a Covenant Award for demonstrating the power of inspired Jewish education. The graduate of Brandeis’ Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program received a $36,000 grant from the Covenant Foundation. Her temple will get $5,000. After five years of tussling with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and the giant hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, Lorin Reisner resigned as head of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. Earlier, he helped overhaul the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement unit. The Jewish Advocate newspaper profiled Sally Michael, managing partner at the Boston law office of Saul Ewing. She represents owners and developers in such areas as acquisitions, dispositions, financings, development and commercial property leasing. She met her husband, Eric Pomerantz ’82, at Brandeis. Adam Berlin’s fourth novel is “The Number of Missing,” which is about coping, going through the motions, guilt, pushing through grief and looking for equilibrium in the months after 9/11. Adam teaches writing at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and co-edits J Journal: New Writing on Justice. David Arkowitz was named chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Visterra, which develops therapeutics to prevent and treat major infectious diseases. He had been CFO and general manager at Mascoma Corp. Spencer Sherman, CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners, has launched Legacy Training, a nine-month coaching workshop to help men move from “ho hum” to joyful engagement in business and life. Bill Cember writes that his wife, Alicia, recently joined him in his law office, which handles criminal, family and real-estate matters. He is still trying to play softball at the mature age of 53. Son Kenny graduated from SUNY Geneseo, and daughter Nicole is a junior at Cornell. Jonathan Kirshtein is the manager for technical support and training at Automobili Lamborghini America, where he oversees the dealer network for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Writer Cheryl Cutler Azair has lived in Los Angeles for the past 22 years. She and her husband have three children. She reports, “Despite having been born in LA, my kids are all rabid Red Sox and Celtics fans, and it’s wonderful to see them making smart choices.” Son Sammy is a junior at Yeshiva University; daughter Ariella will enroll at Brandeis in fall 2016 after serving in the Israel Defense Forces; and son Joseph is a high-school sophomore. Susan Chapman Hantman and Barry Hantman ’84 report that their son, Noam, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Noam is a member of Troop 13 in Danville, N.H. Barry is the scoutmaster. Noam’s Court of Honor was attended by more than a hundred people, including his aunt Caren Spiegel Hantman. After more than 25 years in the financial services industry, Ian Finnell is the business manager at the Essex County (N.J.) Hospital Center. The government-operated psychiatric facility houses 180 patients. In September, Ian and his wife, Janice Friedman ’82, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Ian writes, “We enjoy a life full of developmental milestones that are continual with our boys, Gabe and DJ (Daniel), ages 14 and 12, who give us daily joy.” TV/film director Rosemary Rodriguez recently completed her second feature film, “Silver Skies,” about a group of eccentric retirees whose lives turn upside down when their beloved apartment complex is sold. Her first feature, “Acts of Worship,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She’s a regular director on TV’s “The Good Wife.”

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