Brandeis Magazine

Denise (Wolf) Blumenthal, MJC’91, has joined Ohio’s Youngstown Area Jewish Federation as the Jewish Community Center’s executive director. A book of poetry by Jesse Mavro Diamond, MFA’91, “American Queers,” is scheduled for publication by Cervená Barva Press in 2022. Her awards include first place in Eidos magazine’s international poetry competition. Jesse initiated and taught the first creative-writing course offered by Boston Latin School during its 386-year history. Jeffrey H. Finkelstein, MA’93, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, received the 2021 Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence, given by Brandeis’ Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program. Jonathan Boiskin, MA’95, P’21, is executive director of Friends of Israel Sci Tech Schools. Brian Gibbs, Heller PhD’95, is leading UMass Memorial Health Care’s transformation efforts in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid, IBS MA’95, is managing director and chief executive at NCC Bank. Heather (Lyons) Frederick, MA’97, PhD’99, writes, “The pandemic was a catalyst for rediscovering my ‘why’ (in a Simon Sinek ’95 kind of way).” Heather launched a podcast, “The Happy Doc Student,” to help people realize their dream of becoming a doctor with their sanity, health and relationships intact. Jessica Estevez, Heller MM’98, is president at Estrategia Group, the human capital and resource development company she co-founded in 2010. Joel Franklin, MA’98, holds the James A. Borders Chair in Physics at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon. Zenobia Moochhala, IBS MA’98, is a board member at TiE Boston, which provides support to entrepreneurs. Philippe Winthrop, IBS MA’98, is vice president of global alliances at RiverMeadow Software. Victor (Homero) Castanier, Heller MA’99, participated in the 2020 European Geosciences Union General Assembly with the paper “Assessment of Local Water Resources for Sustainable Development Goals.” This year, he participated in the EGU General Assembly with the paper “Monitoring Water Availability by a Multilevel Model to Address Water Scarcity.”