Class Correspondent

I continue to work as the executive director 
of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s TogetherPAC, and am on the adjunct faculty at Emerson College and Simmons College, teaching courses in political communications. I spend every remaining minute of spare time on the rugby field, playing with the Boston Maccabi Rugby Club, a community service-based rugby team I founded last year.

Julia Crantz joined the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology in February and was promoted to manager of marketing and communications in June. She writes, “A recent work trip took me just up Interstate 95 to Baltimore, where I caught up with Barri Yanowitz and Miriam Sievers.” John DeWitt, MS’06, has completed half of an MD/PhD program at the University of Vermont. He defended his PhD in neuroscience in August. Jordan Karney was awarded the first-ever Raymond and Margaret Horowitz Fellowship in American Art from Boston University. After six years at the Mary Ryan Gallery in New York, she returned to Boston to begin the graduate program this fall. Abigail Wiener Shapiro and Ari Shapiro were married Aug. 12 in Morristown, N.J. Abigail is in her third year of a PhD program studying health behavior at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill. Ari, a 2002 alumnus of Hampshire College, is the statewide coordinator for North Carolina Hillel. Matt Shuman teaches history to eighth graders at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School in Hyde Park and lives in Jamaica Plain. He writes, “Congrats to Jason Prapas for his recent work on cold fusion and to Emily Unger on her beautiful baby.” Ilana Snapstailer, MA’07, recently celebrated her one-year anniversary as associate regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Boston. In July, Erica Sorrentino accepted the position of senior clinical research coordinator for the Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Cantor Center’s research is focused on the patient and family experience of living with a predisposition to or diagnosis of cancer, as well as survivorship issues post-treatment. Prior to joining the Cantor Center, she served as project manager for the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Phenotyping Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, which conducted research aimed at improving understanding of autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disorders. Shira and Joseph Shmulewitz welcomed their first child, Sophie Hannah, into the world in February. Joseph left the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office and joined the law firm of McAloon & Friedman in July. Esther Klein married Matthew Wolf on April 22 at the Estate at Florentine Gardens in River Vale, N.J. Esther works in Manhattan as an agency attorney in the office of legal affairs at the New York City Human Resources Administration. She received a law degree from Yeshiva University. Matthew is an actuary at the Manhattan office of AXA Equitable, where he helps design and price life insurance plans for individuals. According to The New York Times, the couple met on JDate during the winter of 2008, and talked online for about two weeks before meeting over hot chocolate at a Dunkin’ Donuts. “We’re both huge chocolate lovers,” Matthew told the newspaper. Jason Goldsmith, MS’06, received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in April and is now looking forward to completing his MD in 2014. Former Brandeis basketball star Christine Clancy was named women’s basketball coach at Washington and Lee, an NCAA Division III program in Lexington, Va. She served as assistant coach with the Generals last year. Christine was an assistant at Colby for two seasons prior to being named interim head coach for 2010-11, when the Mules finished 22-6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Brandeis had a 78-25 record in Christine’s four years, and she ranks in the top 10 all-time in scoring (971), rebounding (572) and free-throw percentage (.791). Sarah Romain started nursing school at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in September.

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