Brandeis International Business School announces new board co-chairs

From left, Alan Hassenfeld, David Hodes

Brandeis International Business School (IBS) announced that Alan Hassenfeld and David Hodes '77 will serve as the next co-chairs of its Board of Overseers. They succeed Arthur L. Goldstein, who was instrumental in engaging the school with the Boston business community and, in particular, developing a partnership with the New England-Israel Business Council.


"We wish to thank Art for his invaluable service as chair over the past six years," said Brandeis IBS Dean Bruce Magid, the Martin and Ahuva Gross Chair in Financial Markets and Institutions. "His thoughtful leadership helped us establish the vision, structure and future direction of the school."

Hassenfeld is the retired chairman and CEO of the toy company Hasbro, Inc., where he worked for nearly four decades. He is chairman of Hassenfeld Family Initiatives, a philanthropic organization that supports children in need, social entrepreneurship, higher education, and the empowerment of women the world over.

In 2011 he established the Hassenfeld Fellow Overseas Immersion Program, in which students take intensive classes on emerging economies and then travel to those countries for in-field learning. Hassenfeld is an adjunct professor at Brandeis IBS, and in that capacity traveled with 30 business students to Havana this past year.

"Alan continues a long tradition of the Hassenfeld family's commitment to Brandeis," said Magid, citing Hassenfeld's mother Sylvia, a former Brandeis Trustee, as well as his late grandfather Henry, a former Brandeis fellow. His sister, Ellen Hassenfeld Block, has been a member of the Board of Overseers at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management since 2001."Through initiatives such as the immersion program, he has shown that he understands the importance of giving students a hands-on and truly global educational experience.”

Hodes has been a member of Brandeis IBS' Board of Overseers since 2009, and served on the Dean’s Global Business Council from 2003 to 2009. He is an active supporter of the school’s focus on real estate. In addition to underwriting innovative case studies in the field, he is a frequent speaker in real estate classes and meets regularly with students to share valuable insights and guidance. He served as co-chair of his 30th Reunion Committee. He is a managing partner of Hodes Weill & Associates, which has provided multiple internships for students at Brandeis IBS. He was previously a managing director of Credit Suisse in New York.

His wife, Jolie Schwab '78, has served on the Brandeis Arts Council since 2008. Together the couple has been a generous supporter of the university, contributing to several major initiatives at Brandeis IBS and the Office of the Arts. An urban studies major at Brandeis, Hodes has helped build out the business school's recently introduced real estate specialization and has also supported Brandeis IBS' Building Fund for new construction projects.

"David is the first Brandeis alum to join the board's leadership, and he will no doubt bring a renewed emphasis on outreach to the broader community," said Magid. "He has helped us expand our specializations, which will be an important focus for the school’s curriculum in the coming years."

The leadership of the new co-chairs, combined with our board’s ongoing commitment to advance our mission, will ensure our continued success and recognition as a leading global business school, added Magid.

Categories: Business

Return to the BrandeisNOW homepage