Class Correspondent

I decided to take a break from my career in health-care administration to pursue my other passion, interior design. I am now working as a storage-solutions designer at Closet Factory. My territory includes Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

After home-schooling her two children through middle school, Andrea AskenDunn surprised herself at age 50 by becoming a French teacher. Last fall, she switched to teaching English as a second language, which she finds challenging and fun. Her son works for SpaceX, and her daughter plans to attend graduate school to study comparative literature. Andrea and her husband live in Maine. After 30 years, they have finally connected their solar-powered house to the electric grid, which now serves as their storage battery. Davida Charney, a professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work at Tel Aviv University on a new book project, “Debating the Nature of the Psalms.” Debbie Cohen returned to her old stomping grounds to run in the Boston Marathon at age 60. She finished third in her age group at the Delaware Marathon. After working as a journalist/writer/editor for most of her post-college life, Debbie became a certified personal trainer and is enjoying helping others achieve their fitness goals. She lives in Maryland with her husband, Ben Sussman, and son Jonathan, a high-school senior who is a top runner. Timothy Feeman and Alexandra Parfitt announce the arrival of daughter Greta Ellen, who was born on Sept. 5. Linda (Parker) Horowitz is marketing and development manager at QueensCare Health Centers, a nonprofit with five primary-care centers in Los Angeles. The clinics provide health services to low-income families, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. In her role, she also supports QueensCare, a separate grant-making charitable organization. Gerry Isenberg, professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, has been appointed editor-in-chief of a new journal, American College of Surgeons Case Reviews in Surgery. Producer Marta Kauffman is working on a remake of a hit Israeli TV show about a haredi Orthodox family. “Shtisel,” which has attracted audiences of all backgrounds in Israel, centers around a family’s tales of love and loss. The American version, titled “Emmis,” will be set in Brooklyn. Marta is producing the series with her daughter, Hannah K.S. Canter. It will be available through Amazon Prime. Lauren (Levenson) Langevin launched Shibumi Associates, a Boston-based firm that develops marketing and branding strategies for organizations. In her spare time, she pursues her love of design as a fabric artist, specializing in one-of-a-kind pieces that transform spaces. Rosa Lowinger is the president of RLA Conservation, a fine arts and architecture conservation firm based in Miami and Los Angeles. Rosa is also a noted Cuba travel specialist who has been leading high-end trips to the island nation since 1999. Neil Pickett has been promoted to vice president and deputy chief of staff at Indiana University Health, Indiana’s largest health-care system. In April, he became a grandfather and celebrated his 60th birthday. Steve Saklad’s work on the Fox TV show “Empire” was nominated by the Art Directors Guild for Best Production Design of a One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Television Series. He spent most of the past year in Atlanta designing “Star,” which premiered on Fox in December. “The biggest news of all,” Steve writes, “came in February when my partner, now husband, and I commemorated 25 years together. We celebrated by spending two weeks in India, where we were doused by powdered paints and water balloons as part of the annual Holi festivities.” Eric Stern reports that he and wife Jacquie are enjoying city living in Philadelphia. Eric is in his 20th year as a partner at Morgan Lewis, and Jacquie is a leader of Impact 100 Philadelphia, Philly’s largest women’s collective giving organization. Eric was selected by his peers as 2016 Philadelphia Real Estate Lawyer of the Year. Elder son Justin, a second-year student at the University of Miami School of Law, will spend the summer at Duane Morris in Miami and will be married in February 2018. Younger son Daniel is finishing up at Vanderbilt and headed to law school. Daughter Julia, after a gap year in Israel and training as an EMT, is a Jumbo (at Tufts), not a Judge (at Brandeis).

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