1970s
Ian Hurley, PhD’70, is retired from New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, where he directed testing of the city’s drinking water. He previously taught chemistry at Russell Sage College; a graduate course on protein structure at the University of Albany, SUNY; and math and chemistry at an English comprehensive school. He also developed patented DNA-based clinical testing products for a biotech company and served as lab director of a commercial industrial hygiene testing lab. “The scientific method instilled by my Brandeis thesis adviser, Thomas Tuttle, was relevant always,” he writes. Harvey Baker, MA’71, PhD’72, completed the Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee, covering 280 miles of hilly back roads over six days, for the 25th time over the past 30 years. He enjoys doing custom woodworking, gardening and coaching high-school soccer. Sam Weisman, MFA’73, directed the regional theater premiere of “The Lifespan of a Fact” at Gloucester Stage Company, where theater arts faculty member Robert Walsh is artistic director. Gerald Bergtrom, PhD’74, celebrated his 50th anniversary in October. He and his wife have one son and welcomed their second grandson in June. A former professor of biological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he is retired from teaching and research in cell and molecular biology. An interactive e-textbook he created, which is in its third edition, has been downloaded nearly 17,000 times. Rabbi Joseph Topek, MA’79, retired after serving for 40 years as a Hillel director, first at Virginia Commonwealth University and for the past 37 years at Stony Brook University, where he continues to serve in a part-time capacity as a chaplain in the university medical center.
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