1960-69

Tim Elliott ’60, of Alexandria, Virginia, longtime attorney in the U.S. Department of the Interior and former school board chair in Alexandria, died on Aug. 17 following a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma. In addition to serving nine years on the school board, he was a member of the Alexandria Park and Recreation Commission, co-chair of the Alexandria Cultural Assessment Commission, and vice chair and board member of the Old Town Civic Association. “I keep my fingers in the pie, and that keeps life sweet,” he said when he was named a Living Legend of Alexandria in 2011. After graduating from Harvard Law School and serving in the U.S. Army for two years, he spent 10 years with IBM in its New York and Washington legal offices before joining the Department of the Interior. His career in the department solicitor’s office was celebrated by two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards (under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton). He leaves his wife, Page; children Farar, Schuyler and Espedito; and six grandchildren. John Lisman ’66, of Watertown, Massachusetts, the Zalman Abraham Kekst Chair in Neuroscience at Brandeis, died on Oct. 20 after a lung infection. After receiving a BA in physics, he earned a doctorate in physiology at MIT, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard under Nobel laureate George Wald. He joined the Brandeis faculty in 1974 and chaired the neuroscience program for many years. As a research scientist, he made significant contributions to understanding how long-term memories are encoded at the molecular level. His work was a crucial catalyst for many other advances in explaining the workings of memory. He was also highly accomplished in the classroom, earning many plaudits from his students. He was a strong supporter of the arts at Brandeis, serving on the faculty advisory committee for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. John leaves his wife, Natasha ’68. Abby Dorfman Tanenbaum ’66, of Naperville, Illinois, a retired college math instructor, died on Oct. 13 after a sudden bout of pneumonia with sepsis. She leaves her husband of 50 years, William; children Sara and Laura; her sister, Julie; and one grandchild. Michele Vickers Forman ’67, of Salisbury, Vermont, a high-school history teacher who was named National Teacher of the Year in 2001, died on Aug. 28 at her home from complications of dementia and type 1 diabetes. After studying history at Brandeis, she served in the Peace Corps from 1967-69, teaching in western Nepal. This experience engendered a passion for learning about peoples’ experiences in other cultures that shaped the rest of her career. She taught world history at Middlebury Union High School for 29 years. Her classroom was a joyous jungle of giant plants, student art, maps, posters, provocative slogans, old couches and new ideas. When President George W. Bush introduced her as National Teacher of the Year in a White House Rose Garden ceremony, he cited her work in the classroom, her introduction of the study of Arabic language and culture to her students, her scholarship, her work on education policy in the United States, and her tireless service to history teachers across the country. She leaves her husband, Dick ’65; children Elissa, Laura and Tim; and siblings Maureen and Jack.