Class Correspondent

David Abelman, executive director of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and the plan’s vice president and deputy general counsel, was one of 14 Brandeis alumni sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court bar in June. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, H’96, stopped by the ceremony to greet the group, and Justice Ginsburg stayed on to answer some questions. Michelle Bowdler is senior director of Health and Wellness Services at Tufts University, where she has worked for more than 15 years. In her spare time, she advocates to expedite the resolution of rape cases in Boston. Beth Kneller is director of administration at the American Museum of Natural History’s Richard Gilder Graduate School. The school, established in 2006, has an academic community of 150 museum curators and faculty, graduate students, undergraduate interns and postdoctoral fellows. Sydney Martin retired from the New York Fire Department. Andrea Casson Milstein writes, “Reading through Brandeis Magazine made me proud and grateful, yet again, to have attended a university so dedicated to community service, and it inspired me to submit a class note. Brandeis challenged me and offered me amazing adventures, and was where I met my beloved (Glen ’83) and made many lasting friendships.” Andrea teaches Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Glen is associate professor of psychology at CCNY. Son Luca is a freshman at Sarah Lawrence, and daughter Alessia is in high school. After graduating from Brandeis, Glen spent three years in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps, building houses on the Samaná Peninsula. In January, the family visited the area and saw the houses still standing strong. Bill Sherry was named chief operating officer at Granite United Way. He will oversee the organization’s operations, which encompass more than 80 percent of New Hampshire and Windsor County in Vermont. Previously, Bill was vice president of customer care at Liberty Utilities (formerly National Grid), where he managed customer programs and communications in New Hampshire. He also directed the employee volunteer program and led the company’s United Way campaign, which generated $2.1 million in employee giving. Andrew Straus is the rabbi of Temple Adat Elohim, a 600-family Reform congregation in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He had been interim rabbi at New York City’s Central Synagogue, where he served as part of the pulpit team and director of education. He and his wife, Karen, have three children, Carly, Elana and Michael.

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