In Memoriam: Alumni Classes of 1990 - 1999

Art Macias Jr. ’94 of Phoenix, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Washington, D.C., died on March 20 after a nine-month battle with cancer. Four days before his death, Art left his hospital bed to be with his son for Art III’s second birthday. “He just wasn’t going to miss the party,” his wife, Gabriela, told the Arizona Republic. Art accepted the job with TSA in early 2009, soon after Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano was appointed secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. After graduating from Brandeis, he received a Rotary scholarship to attend École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales in Paris, where he earned a master’s degree in international economics. The Douglas, Ariz., native then returned to his home state to become director of the Douglas Community and Economic Development Department on the U.S.-Mexico border in southeastern Arizona. He was responsible for leading the area’s economic-development efforts and helped coordinate communications and projects between the two countries. He later became executive director of the Arizona Lottery. In addition to his wife of 11 years and his son, he leaves two sisters, Suleyka and Armida; his father, Jesus Arturo Sr.; and his mother, Shirley Macias. Anthony James “AJ” Velez ’95, M.S.’96, of Stonington, Conn., died on April 6. After receiving a master’s degree in neurology at Brandeis, he earned a doctorate from Boston University. Anthony had a deep hunger for learning and educating others, particularly about the human mind, and was an avid reader and poetry writer. He leaves his mother, Diane; his father, Al; and his younger brother, Michael.