Brandeis Magazine

Karen Allen, GSAS PhD’90, professor and chair of chemistry at Boston University, is on the scientific advisory board at Atavistik Bio, a preclinical biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, GSAS PhD’91, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, and an expert on authoritarianism and threats to democracy, is an MSNBC opinion columnist, and a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets. She is the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present” (W.W. Norton & Co., 2021). William Fallon, Heller MMHS’91, operates an oceanfront B&B in the Philippines. He plans to relocate to Thailand soon, while maintaining a home in Cebu. Dena Fisher, Heller PhD’91, is a board member at Community Health Programs Berkshires. Dena works at Volunteers in Medicine, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, providing administrative support and care management for undocumented immigrant patients. Joseph Wronka, GSAS PhD’92, in January celebrated the publication of the third edition of his book “Human Rights and Social Justice: Social Action and Service for the Helping and Health Professions,” published by Cognella. Joseph is a professor in Springfield College’s School of Social Work and Behavioral Sciences, and a representative to the United Nations for the International Association of Schools of Social Work. Director/producer Johnathan Brownlee, GSAS MFA’93, is working on “The Will Rogers Story,” an eight-part limited series about the iconic American humorist. Lori Griswold, Heller PhD’93, is a member of the board of Griswold, a nonmedical home care company with more than 170 locations. Lori is a former executive vice president at the company and the daughter-in-law of founder Jean Griswold. Barbara Mawn, Heller PhD’93, is professor emerita at Solomont School of Nursing, UMass Lowell. In February, she completed a visiting professorship at Naresuan University, in Phitsanulok, Thailand. She also presented and consulted at Mahidol University and Saint Louis College, in Bangkok. Linda G. Mills, Heller PhD’94, took office in July as New York University’s 17th president, the first woman to lead the university. A professor and administrator at NYU for more than 20 years, she was most recently its vice chancellor, and senior vice provost for global programs and university life. As a scholar, she is known for her research in social work, particularly in the field of domestic-partner abuse. Zuoshi Huang, GSAS PhD’95, Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience, is senior author of an article about programmable live RNA-sensing technologies, which was published in October in the journal Nature. Hongkui Zeng, GSAS PhD’97, earned the 2023 Pradel Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences for her research on cell types and connections in the mammalian brain, and her work in developing neuroscience tools and open-data resources. Hongkui is executive vice president and director at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Tracey Kardash, GSAS MA’98, Heller MM’98, is a Realtor at Keller Williams Advisors and, for more than two decades, an active member of the Greater Los Angeles philanthropic community, advising major donors, devising marketing campaigns, and developing special events. Jennifer (Rosenwasser) Zwilling, GSAS MA’98, is chief executive officer at the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, D.C. Previously, she was chief strategy and campus success officer at Hillel International. Nenad Grmusa, IBS MA’99, is chief executive officer at DEM BioPharma, which develops immunotherapeutics that target signals on cancer cells and macrophages.