Brandeis Magazine

Beth Cohen, director of emerging growth services at the law firm Blank Rome, has been elected president of the board of directors of the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s (AICC) Central Atlantic Region. AICC is the only organization in the  Philadelphia area that facilitates trade and investment with Israel through its professional network. Beth has led 10 Israel venture conferences in Philadelphia, helping close to 200 Israeli technology, life-science and clean-tech companies identify strategic partners and investment opportunities.  Richard Sherwin, a professor at New York Law School, wrote a new book, “Visualizing Law in the Age of Digital Baroque: Arabesques and Entanglements.” He is an expert on the use of visual persuasion in litigation and litigation public relations. He has written widely on the interrelationship between law and culture, turning out interdisciplinary works on law and rhetoric, discourse theory, political legitimacy and the emerging field of visual legal studies. Mindy Littman Holland wrote “Wait Until You’re Fifty: A Woman’s Journey Into Midlife,” which was published in October 2011. The book is about helping women (and men, to some extent) navigate the changes midlife brings. It gives credence, validity and voice to real concerns about entering middle age and practical advice on preserving and/or improving minds, bodies, desirability, confidence and creativity going forward. For more information, visit mindylittmanholland.com. Tom Friedman collaborated with Michael Mandelbaum on a new book, “That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back.” Tom, a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for The New York Times, and Michael, a foreign policy expert, analyze the challenges the United States faces — globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits and its pattern of energy consumption — and spells out solutions. Renowned historian and author Jonathan Sarna, M.A.’75, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis, spoke at the annual meeting of the Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) New England board of directors. Among those in attendance was Deborah Budd, senior campaign executive for JNF. Jonathan spoke about the future of Judaism. “The future of the Jewish community depends on those with the fortitude to shape the future and develop a mission to impassion Jews all over,” he said.