Class Correspondent

Deborah Rosen Fidel was named the first full-time executive director of Yes, You Can Dance. She brings more than two decades of public-sector and nonprofit experience to the Pittsburgh-based organization, which is dedicated to transforming lives through the power of dance. Kenneth Fink and Jacqueline Simons, who began dating in September of their freshman year, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Kenny is a partner at Cheriff & Fink, a law firm with offices in Manhattan, Hewlett and Mount Kisco, New York. Jacqui is an orthodontist with offices in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County. In May, Jacqui and Kenny were honored by Temple Hillel at its 62nd annual Journal Dinner Dance. Kenny serves as temple president. Elder son Jacob is a Cornell sophomore studying policy analysis and management in the School of Human Ecology. Younger son Harry is a senior at Hewlett High School, where he is captain of the baseball team. He will join his brother at Cornell in the fall. Jacqui and Kenny joke that “our dream of another generation of Brandeisians will have to wait for the grandchildren.” Debbie Ginsburg and Barry Kolodkin ’84 have lived outside London with their children, Jesse, 17, and Lucy, 14, for almost three years. Debbie works at Kingston University, and Barry is at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. Debbie writes, “We still don’t speak the Queen’s English.” Jackie Menter just returned from Greece, her second trip in a year to work directly with international refugees in camps, in shelters and on the street. She was accompanied by her daughter, Shira, a sophomore at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Back at home in Irvine, Jackie works with a number of agencies and independent volunteers around the world, helping refugees obtain food, shelter, health care and legal services with the aim of helping them resume normal, productive lives. Jackie lives with her husband, Scott Menter ’85, and son Aviel, a junior at UC Irvine. Pratyoush Onta is director of research at Martin Chautari, a public forum and research institute in Kathmandu, Nepal. The academic journal he co-founded in 1996, Studies in Nepali History and Society, just celebrated its 20th anniversary. His most recent co-edited volume is “Political Change and Public Culture in Post-1990 Nepal.” He is currently co-editing a book on Nepal during the 1950s. Regina Alexander Rittenberg, wife of Steve Rittenberg, MA’89, passed away on Sept. 19 after a yearlong battle with cancer. In addition to Steve, she is survived by her parents, Johnnie and Joan Alexander, and her daughter, Whitney Danielle Roden. Ian Rubin was elected a trustee at Middlesex Savings Bank. He leads the retail banking and consumer-payments practice at ACI Worldwide, a global provider of banking and payment technologies. Jay Ruderman and his wife, Shira, were named to the Jerusalem Post’s list of the 50 Most Influential Jews. Through the Ruderman Family Foundation, they promote social justice for people with disabilities and work to strengthen the strategic relationship between the United States and Israel.

Photo of attendees at New England Aquarium event

FISH STORY: Nearly 200 alumni and friends celebrated the holiday season at the New England Aquarium. President Ron Liebowitz offered greetings, and student a cappella group Starving Artists performed. Pictured: Eric Goldberg ’88, Kimberlee Tarr Schumacher ’94, Alyson Tarr Popper ’90, Steve Levine ’90, Sara Pollak Levine ’92 and Ian Rubin ’88.

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