Brandeis Magazine

Neal Bermas, Heller PhD’81, is a member of the Heller School’s board of advisers. He is also a member of the board of trustees of St. Joseph’s University and served as an honorary judge for the 2022 Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism. Merrill Joan Gerber, GSAS MA’81, has written 30 books, including “The Kingdom of Brooklyn,” winner of Hadassah Magazine’s Ribalow Award, and “King of the World,” winner of the Pushcart Press Editors’ Book Award. Her literary archive resides at the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Karen Feinstein, Heller PhD’83, is president and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, a philanthropic organization in Pittsburgh that seeks to promote innovation, advocacy, collaboration, and education in health care. Marjorie Roemer, GSAS PhD’84, is the author of “Certain Mysteries,” a book of poems published in September. Sara Horowitz, GSAS PhD’85, in November received the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Lessons and Legacies Conference, a meeting of academics working in the field of Holocaust studies. Sara is a professor in the humanities department at Toronto’s York University. In January, Steve Mackey, GSAS PhD’85, celebrated a major commission premiere of one of his compositions, “Concerto for Curved Space,” at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Boston Globe review praised the piece’s “sinuous string writing, gossamer textures in the woodwinds, bright splashes of percussion, and forcefully etched brass lines.” In September, Jerry Kantor, Heller MMHS’86, welcomed Healing Arts Press’ publication of his book “Sane Asylums: The Success of Homeopathy Before Psychiatry Lost Its Mind.” It examines the success of homeopathic psychiatric asylums in the United States from the 1870s to 1920, arguing current health-care practitioners could learn much from homeopathy’s heyday. Jerry is a faculty member at the Ontario College of Homeopathic Medicine and owner of Vital Force Health Care, a Boston-area homeopathy and acupuncture practice. Jane Karas, GSAS PhD’87, president of Flathead Valley Community College, in Kalispell, Montana, received the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s Flathead Legacy Award for her dedication to the community through her career, volunteer work, and board service. Gary Pratt, GSAS MA’88, PhD’00, is a professor of instruction in the intellectual heritage program at Temple University, in Philadelphia. He has been teaching full time in the program since 2000.