Class Correspondent

Ariel Ahram took a leave from his position at Virginia Tech for a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center, in Washington, D.C., to write a book on separatist movements in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya. Ariel first came to the Wilson Center as a research assistant for Yitzhak Nakash, a Middle Eastern and Islamic studies scholar who was his undergraduate thesis adviser at Brandeis. Now he is joining Jytte Klausen, Brandeis’ Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation, another mentor who is also a fellow at the center. Josh Bob and Rabbi Rachel Silverman ’04 welcomed their second child, Daniel Hillel, on Dec. 22. Everyone in the family is happy and healthy, including 2-year-old Anna, who says she is excited by the arrival of “my new baby.” Last year, the family moved to Sharon, Massachusetts, where Rachel assumed a new rabbinic role at Temple Israel. Josh continues to work as a project manager at TripAdvisor, and is always looking to help bring new people to the company. In March, Valerie (Kolko) Glassman received the Student Impact Award from the Commission for Student Conduct and Legal Issues at the annual convention of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). The award is given to an ACPA member who shows an extraordinary ability to connect with and educate students. Valerie has served as an assistant dean of students at Duke for the past 10 years. Jenny Goldstein is director of individual philanthropy at Americares, a global health organization. Steven Pickman and his wife, Nava, welcomed their first child, Charles Benjamin (Betzalel Ze’ev), in early December. They live in Washington, D.C. Steven founded his own firm, Steven Pickman Objects Conservation, a private art-conservation practice. Carrie Port, who moved home to Chicago in September, works at an executive consulting firm as an intelligence manager. She enjoys spending time with her family. Noa Simons, an investor and entrepreneur, was named executive director of the Upstate Venture Association of New York. Noa spent more than a decade working in venture capital in Boston and Shanghai. She was most recently a partner at TD Growth Capital, focusing on clean tech. She is a founding member of the Hudson Valley Startup Fund, a member-managed seed-capital fund formed in 2015. She is also a co-founder of Community Compost Co., a New Paltz food waste and organic recycling company. Matthew Walker and wife Naomi welcomed their first child, Leora Joy, on Jan. 4. After nine years as a reporter at Bloomberg BNA in Washington, D.C., Michael Rose moved to New York City in December and is now assistant managing editor at Law360, a legal-news website owned by LexisNexis. He oversees a team of reporters covering a variety of legal topics.

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