Brandeis Magazine

Elliot Karp, MJC’80, is CEO of Hillels of Georgia, the statewide association serving more than 5,000 Jewish students. The literary archive of Merrill Joan Gerber, MA’81, has been acquired by Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. She is the author of 30 books and taught fiction writing at Caltech for 31 years. In December, Crystal Chemris, MA’82, PhD’87, celebrated the publication of her second book, “The Spanish Baroque and Latin American Literary Modernity.” Susanne Klingenstein, MA’83, P’18, is a literary scholar and translator of Yiddish fiction — including Mendele’s “Travels of Benjamin the Third” — into German. She is currently working on a cultural history of Yiddish literature. The first volume, covering the years 1100-1600, is scheduled for publication in spring 2022. RosieLee Camacho Salinas, Heller PhD’84, P’85, G’21, reports grandson Lance Lorenzo Babcock ’21, MS’21, graduated from Brandeis in May with a BS/MS in biochemistry. RosieLee’s daughter and Lance’s mother, Kathryn D. Salinas-Babcock ’85, P’21, is also a Brandeis alum. Patrick Casey, PhD’87, a Duke University professor of pharmacology and cancer biology, and senior vice dean of research at the Duke-NUS Medical School, has joined Legend Biotech’s board of directors. Joyce Pulcini, Heller PhD’87, received the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ Lifetime Achievement Award in April. A member of the organization for more than 25 years, she served as its president from 1999-2000. A book about the mother of Louisa (Brownell) Roof, Heller MMH’87, will be published by Post Hill Press in November. “Dematerialized: The Mysterious Disappearance of Marcia Moore” centers on the life and death of Moore, an heiress, astrologer and ketamine proponent who vanished in 1979. Louisa was a source of information for the authors. Shirley Girouard, Heller PhD’88, is a health policy consultant to the Council of State Governments East, a co-director of the Brooklyn Initiative to Develop Geriatrics Education and a faculty member at SUNY Downstate College of Nursing. She also serves on Connecticut’s Primary Care and Community Health Reforms work group. Her research and policy interests include the health and health care of older adults, food insecurity and the social determinants of health. Jana Segal-Stormont, MFA’88, teaches others how to embrace a sustainable desert lifestyle through her blog Sustainable Living Tucson. She recently directed a virtual production of her play “ReGeneration: The Tucson Story,” about a diverse group of teens who bring their communities together to save their city as climate change progresses. Lisa Guarascio Brennan, MA’89, is chief financial officer at Mobivity Holdings Corp., a provider of customer engagement solutions. Diane Disney, Heller PhD’89, has been elected to a second term on the National Council of the American Society for Public Administration. She is also a member of the National Academy of Public Administration’s governance committee. A book by Eduardo Saenz-Rovner, PhD’89, “Conexión Colombia,” was published by Grupo Planeta this year.