Class Correspondent

40th Reunion
June 9-11, 2017

Mark Beede wrote “From Go to Pro: A Playing and Coaching Manual for the Aspiring Tennis Player (and Parents).” The book is based on Mark’s experiences working with professional and elite junior tennis players in Turkey and Europe. Ellen Berkowitz joined Akerman as a partner in the Los Angeles law firm’s real-estate practice group. She has been recognized as one of Southern California’s Most Influential Women in Real Estate, and Los Angeles magazine honored her as one of its Women Leaders in the Law. Robert Bluthardt has worked at the Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, in San Angelo, Texas, for 35 years, the past 20 as director. He and his wife, Valerie Christensen, a museum professional from Nebraska, have a daughter, who entered Texas Tech this fall. Robert writes, “The Boston accent is not what it used to be, and I can speak Texan when needed. I miss the winters and the great pizza, but the Mexican food is great and the people terrific.” Rabbi Steven Chatinover, P’12, traveled to Warsaw this summer on a Jewish educators’ trip. He completed his 27th year at the Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford, where he teaches and serves as the rabbinic adviser. Son Nadav graduated from American University in May 2016, and son Jacob ’12 has relocated to Denver. Ira Cohen and his wife of 37 years, Jeri, live in Agoura Hills, California. Son Andrew, who graduated from Wesleyan in 2014, is a publicist in Hollywood. Matthew is a senior at Indiana. Ira has been a mortgage banker for 39 years and the founding CEO of the Mortgage House for the past 22. Laura Gardner was named vice president of products of LeanTaaS, a Silicon Valley software company. Roberta Herman was named executive director of the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission (GIC). She had formerly been director of Navigant Consulting’s health-care practice and also served in a number of leadership roles at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, including COO. GIC provides health insurance and other benefits to state employees, retirees, and their survivors and dependents. Judy Zeprun Kalman was appointed the general counsel in the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. She is a frequent faculty member for the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute, and received the organization’s Faculty of the Year Award. She lives in Marlborough, Massachusetts, with her husband. Mark Leyner’s autobiographical novel “Gone With the Mind” was published by Little, Brown in March 2016. Ellen Pollock is editor-in-chief of Bloomberg Businessweek (formerly Businessweek), which she joined in 2007 after 18 years at The Wall Street Journal as an editor, writer and finally deputy Page One editor. She has written two nonfiction books. Ellen is married to Barry Meier, a New York Times reporter, and though their wonderful daughter, Lily, has never had a home-cooked meal — dinner is always deadline time — she seems to have turned out all right. Lily is a freshman at Bates. Jan Sandberg writes, “I got a kick out of my Class Notes item in the Summer 2016 issue of Brandeis Magazine, because I somehow acquired two children! Not only that, but two children who had recently gotten married. I’ve actually never had children; I am, however, an adoptive ‘pet parent’ to a black cat named Coco. So, my info apparently got confused with someone else’s. It must have startled a few of my classmates, but that’s OK; it was kind of fun having motherhood unexpectedly bestowed on me.” In 1998, Jane Scarano and her husband, Joseph, founded a software company, Araize, which develops software specifically designed to help nonprofits handle fund accounting, fundraising and payroll. She also founded a company that develops early-learning software — called iTouchiLearn Apps — for preschool kids and kids with special needs. The Scaranos live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and have two sons, Scott and Jake, and two grandchildren, Julia (9) and Frankie (2). President Barack Obama nominated Lawrence Silverman to serve as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Lawrence currently serves as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State. He is known as a strategic policy thinker with a deep understanding of foreign-policy issues in Europe and the Middle East. David Tane recently moved back to NYC after raising a family in Larchmont, New York, for the past 25 years. He is the founding partner of the Manhattan-based law firm Tane Waterman & Wurtzel, concentrating in real estate law, including the representation of cooperative and condominium boards. Jonathan Wilder moved his consulting business to Philadelphia to be closer to family and to enjoy the big(ger) city. He also founded a new consulting group in the medical-device reprocessing arena, Quality Processing Resource Group. He is looking forward to Reunion next year.

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