Brandeis Magazine

Marian Bass, P’20, reports her daughter, Sasha Albert, Heller PhD’20, received her doctorate from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management in August. Denise (Dill) Bell writes, “I am much more appreciative now of life before face masks as I watch the literal meltdown of a nation due to inept leadership at the top. It is unbelievable to witness the lives of six relatives and friends being cut off in as many weeks by COVID-19. I continue to run a business during these uncertain times. And I learned so much about technology and team spirit as my family figured out the intricacies of designing and hosting our first virtual reunion, to avoid disrupting our 59-year family-reunion tradition.” David Bloomfield, professor of education leadership, law and policy at Brooklyn College, was named by the magazine City & State New York to the No. 30 position in its Education Power 100 list for 2020. David’s “insight on important debates over school diversity, yeshiva education and funding equity are backed by his experience in the nonprofit and local government sectors,” the magazine noted. Bertha (Friedman) Braunfeld, P’01, P’03, writes, “I am sad to announce that on Oct. 14, 2019, my husband, Charley, lost his valiant 10-year battle with ALS. Charley’s love for his family was his reason for carrying on, against all odds and in spite of everything the disease stole from him. He was, is and always will be my hero.” Before the pandemic, Michael Goldenkranz attended a Faculty in the Field lecture in Seattle given by psychology professor Don Katz, whose topic was perception. The event was hosted by Marc and Gina Gonchar, both ’93. Michael says Katz’s teaching style, which “engaged and wowed the audience,” led him to have an “unexpected, nonpsychedelic flashback” to his freshman year at Brandeis, when he attended the first meeting of psychology professor Art Wingfeld’s memory and perception class, and decided, there and then, to major in psychology. Recently, Michael and Kenneth Raskin collaborated on a song about COVID-19 that was featured on KIRO-FM, and a piece Michael wrote about his postgraduation experience with the Waltham Police Department was published in The Seattle Times. Jane (Goldman) Ostrowsky, P’06, P’13, reports she and husband Mark enjoyed many beach outings with family this summer. Son Jonathan ’13 graduated virtually from UCLA law school in May and spent time at home with Jane and Mark in Newton, Massachusetts, before leaving to start his law career at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Daughter Sharon battled the coronavirus for six weeks in NYC, then came to Newton after completing online classes for her middle-school students. And son David ’06, who lives in Natick with his wife, Lauren ’04, and their 5-year-old daughter, Colby, will celebrate the publication of his second sports book this fall. Peter Goldstein is general counsel of funds at GAMCO Investors, headquartered in Rye, New York. Steven Greene reports he is enjoying having his younger daughter and son-in-law in South Florida; they moved there from New York City in January. Steven began the fifth season of his podcast for fire-service members, “Five-Alarm Task Force,” in August; he has listeners in more than 40 countries, across six continents. Sharon Hammer Rubin writes about life during the pandemic: “Flights to visit my 92-year-old mother in Florida or our daughter, son-in-law and almost-2-year-old granddaughter in California have gone from frequent to currently impossible. My husband and I are grateful to be managing in New York but can’t wait for the day when we can be with loved ones. Until then, thoughts of simpler times in the early ’70s, when an exam or a paper was my biggest concern, create happy memories. Hoping all of you are safe until life returns to some version of ‘normal.’” Kathryn Hellerstein teaches in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania. She writes, “My husband, David Stern, who teaches at Harvard, and I have been sequestered in our home in Philadelphia since mid-March. Teaching remotely in the spring was a challenge and will be so again in the fall. Our children and their families, also in Philadelphia, are healthy. We’ve expanded our bubble to include one another, so we can babysit our 18-month-old grandson to help out his working parents.” Harold “Hal” Karas attended his grandson Mike’s Zoom bar mitzvah in May and is looking forward to welcoming a new grandson in November. Michael Krasnow celebrated his and Sumru’s 40th wedding anniversary this year. Younger son Raphael (who has an 8-year-old daughter, Logan) graduated from Portland State University and won the Nina Mae Kellogg Award, given annually to an English major for excellence in writing. Older son Darif (who has a 2.5-year-old son, James) finished his medical residency through Brown University and began working in internal medicine at Kent Hospital, while serving as an adjunct professor at Brown Medical School. Thomas Phillips is scoring an “American Experience” documentary on Marian Anderson, called “The Voice of Freedom,” which will be broadcast in 2021. He’s also scoring a PBS film called “American Exile,” about medal-winning Hispanic military veterans under threat of deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they committed a misdemeanor in their youth. Betsy Sarason Pfau hosted Brandeis’ Sacher Legacy Society meeting in June via Zoom. In July, she and husband Dan Pfau ’73 caught up with Don Friedman and Ilene Miller, both P’13, via FaceTime. Betsy reports that Alison Brager Bass ’75 and her siblings own a house around the corner from the Pfaus’ on Martha’s Vineyard. Sheldon and Barbara (Brickman) Stein ’73 marked their 46th wedding anniversary in August. They are expecting their 10th grandchild and recently celebrated the bat mitzvah of their oldest granddaughter. Khan Zahid, who is retired, was serving as a substitute teacher until the pandemic closed the schools in his area.