Class Correspondent

As usual, it was nice to receive so many updates. Please keep them coming! Tamar Saturen Cunha checks in to say that she was disappointed to miss our 10th Reunion but was eight months pregnant at the time and not really up for the travel. Since then, she welcomed Lily Analia to her family (her other daughter, Flora Isabela, is 4). Bethany Baylies gave birth to Corinne Adele Baylies MacDonald on Dec. 2, 2010. Bethany just moved from South Portland to Bridgton, Maine. Congratulations to Melissa White Pillsbury and Rocy Pillsbury, who celebrated the birth of their second son, Maxximus Byron James Pillsbury, on Jan. 27. Eric Schecter writes in to let us know that he and his wife, Lauren, had their first child, Ryan Matthew Schecter, on Aug. 3. Jordan Robbins graduated with a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from George Mason University in August and started working as a personnel psychologist at the Transportation Security Administration. Jamie Cohen was named one of 12 “Rising Stars” by PPB Magazine, the official business monthly of the promotional products industry. Jamie has been recognized for his work with four regional and national awards in the past three years. Beth Schatzel-Murphy earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UMass-Boston. She is doing a postdoc at the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Partial Hospital at Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. Her daughter, Charlotte, turned 3 on July 30. Laurel Johnson married Geoffrey Hoffman (Case Western ’02) on July 17. They reside in Cleveland, where they are both professional actors and also work in the human resources and construction industries, respectively. Congratulations to Anna (Glozman) Munro and her husband, Andrew, who welcomed a son, Adam Joseph, to the family on March 14. Their 1-year-old daughter, Rebecca Leigh, is proud to be a big sister. Sara Harrison Mast had her second child, Wyatt Dylan Mast, on April 4. Marie Wetmore married Jeff Hoel on April 23. They live in Medford, Mass. Marie is a life and career coach with her own firm, Lion’s Share Coaching. She is also a podcaster (Be a Lion) and writes for her blog, The Love Coach, on The Boston Globe website. Amber Rohner Sakuda completed fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry in June. She is a practicing psychiatrist for adults, children and adolescents at Kaiser on her home island of Maui. She is enjoying being back home in Hawaii with her family and hiking the Waihe’e Ridge and the Bamboo Forest in Hana. She writes, “Aloha Floyd Street Divas, and come visit the couch of Dr. 'Ber anytime! Looking forward to seeing Emerald Huang in February 2012!” Ilana Brand married William Gleim on July 31 on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. Brandeis classmates in attendance included Allison (Cohen) Sylvan, Brooke Wallock, Dr. Ariella (Soffer) Marlow and Pooja Patel. Ilana is marketing manager for the San Diego office of Cooley, a national law firm of 650 attorneys. Daniel Fisher graduated from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business Honors M.B.A. Program with a double major in marketing and operations management. As host of Life on Tap, he attended the Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland, Ore., where advocates and industry people discussed how new and social media will impact the future of craft beer.

Ted Schiffman married Manja Lyssy in the Great Synagogue in Basel, Switzerland, on May 22. Ted, who earned a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, is an associate director at Susquehanna International Group in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Manja received a bachelor’s degree in film and television from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and works as a casting associate. Valerie Kolko married Matthew Glassman on June 26 at Bay 7 in Durham, N.C. Valerie serves as the senior program coordinator in the Office of the Dean of Students at Duke University, where she advises the undergraduate conduct board on disciplinary matters. After graduating from Brandeis, she received a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from Indiana University. Matthew is a technical analyst supporting the computer system for the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. David Jackel and Shana Bethune were married on May 14 at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter in Boston. Shira Beckerman was named managing director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company. She served in a similar role for the last four years at the Pearl Theatre Company, a well-established off-Broadway repertory company in New York. Joel Christensen, M.A.’01, has been an assistant professor of classics at the University of Texas at San Antonio since 2007. He holds a doctorate from New York University. Becca Rausch wed Lior Barnoon on June 19. Just before the nuptials, she received an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Following the wedding, the happy couple moved to Seattle so Becca could begin her new job as a teaching fellow at the Seattle University School of Law. Her scholarship focuses on the nature of health-care access for certain identity-based groups. She teaches civil procedure and health law. As reported in the cover story in the food edition of Brandeis Magazine, WenLin Soh works at a foodie start-up in London. Inspired by WenLin’s 15 months of backpacking around the world and eating just about everything in sight, Edible Experiences is a hub for discovering food experiences such as cooking and baking classes, knife skill workshops, market tours, supper clubs, foraging expeditions, tastings and more. She reports that her website went live in August. She writes, “We’re also on Twitter and we’d love for you to join the conversation.” Jessie Glasser was married on 10/10/10 and completed a fellowship in infectious diseases in June 2011. She works as an infectious diseases staff physician at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va. She’s looking forward to exploring a new part of the country and meeting Brandeis alumni in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Sarah Chandler is returning to her roots as the associate director of Adamah at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Sarah works as an educator for a fellowship for young Jewish adults in their 20s that focuses on organic farming, community building and Jewish spiritual practice.
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