William Rosenberg, PhD’70, was named senior adviser at Market Square IP, a leading player in the monetization of patent assets that have been slated to be abandoned. Harold Bancroft White, PhD’70, was named Educator of the Year by the Delaware BioScience Association. Harold is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Undergraduate Science Education Program at the University of Delaware. The award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions in the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Delaware. Peter Mans­bach, PhD’71, founded the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network, a volunteer-run support and advocacy group for people with internal-clock disorders. Ione Vargus, Heller PhD’71, was honored by the College of Public Health at Temple University for serving as the first African-American dean at Temple. Ione was dean of Temple’s School of Social Administration. Her research on African-American family reunions led to the creation of the National Family Reunion Conference and the Family Reunion Institute, which she now administers as a volunteer. A book by Deborah Lipstadt, MA’72, PhD’76, “History on Trial: My Day in Court With a Holocaust Denier,” will be adapted for the screen by director Mick Jackson and screenwriter David Hare. In the film, titled “Denial,” Deborah will be portrayed by Oscar winner Hilary Swank. David Howard, MFA’73, was inducted into the Community Video Archives in Sarasota, Fla. A member of the Asolo Repertory Company for 22 seasons, he has acted on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, and in films like “Deconstructing Harry” and “Moonstruck.” He lives in Sarasota with his wife, Anne. The David S. and Anne V. Howard Studio Theatre on the State College of Florida’s Bradenton campus is named for the couple. Jill Mesirov, MA’73, PhD’74, a computational biologist, was appointed associate vice chancellor for computational health sciences and professor of medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and Moores Cancer Center. Jill most recently served as associate director and chief informatics officer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she directed the computational biology and bioinformatics program. Her research focuses on applying machine-learning methods to functional genomics data to study cancer and infectious disease. Ruben Rumbaut, MA’73, PhD’78, a distinguished professor of sociology at UC Irvine, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has authored, co-authored or edited numerous publications and earned a best-book award from the American Sociological Association. David Kertzer, PhD’74, won the Pulitzer Prize in biography for “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe.” The book is an account of how two of the 20th century’s most iconic and influential figures relied on and used each other to preserve and protect their respective institutions, the Catholic Church and Italy’s fascist government. David credits Alex Weingrod, his Brandeis mentor and the former chair of the anthropology department, for steering him toward the study of Italy back in 1969. David is currently the Dupee University Professor of Social Science at Brown. His next book is about the Roman Revolution of 1848 and the French army’s restoration of the pope to power in 1849. Steven Spielberg plans to turn David’s 1997 work, “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” into a film. Another Pulitzer winner, Tony Kushner, is working on that screenplay. John Zurick, MFA’74, was named president of the SALT program by American Student Assistance, a Boston-based nonprofit that seeks to change the way students, alumni and families approach the financing of higher education. John had been chief operating officer at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. Priscilla Conwell Deck, MA’76, PhD’77, is the new development director at Voice of the Faithful, a worldwide movement seeking redress for Catholic clergy sexual abuse. She has more than a decade of fundraising experience at Boston-area nonprofits. Previously, she was principal of Nonprofit Institutional Advancement, Boston, which helps startups transition into mature organizations. Alan Teperow, MA’76, retired after 33 years as executive director of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts. Through his leadership, the organization built bridges and community relationships with the members of the Commonwealth’s synagogues, minyanim and agencies. Larry Abbott, PhD’77, the William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience and co-director of the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University, delivered Carnegie Mellon University’s annual Buhl Lecture. Larry discussed two neural circuits: one that allows flies to interpret the implications of different odors, and another in electric fish that predicts the consequences of motor actions. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he is the co-author of a widely used textbook on theoretical neuroscience. Susan Windham-Bannister, Heller PhD’77, stepped down as president and founding CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, an investment agency that supports life-sciences innovation, research, development and commercialization. During her tenure, Susan focused on collaboration through tax breaks, internships, loans and grants. Bernard Lightman, PhD’79, was appointed to the board of governors of Toronto’s York University. He is a professor of humanities and serves as editor of the History of Science Society’s flagship journal, Isis. He taught at Queen’s University and the University of Oregon before joining York in 1987.

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