Graduate Students
No Class Notes submissions this issue.
Robert Stieglitz, GSAS MA’69, PhD’71, is the official historian of the Forest Hills Gardens community in New York City. He retired from Rutgers University in 2009 after 31 years as a faculty member; his areas of interest include archaeology and Hebraic studies.
Thomas Glynn, Heller MSW’72, PhD’77, is board chair at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, appointed by Gov. Maura Healey. He served as the agency’s executive director three decades ago and also led the Massachusetts Port Authority for six years.
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, GSAS MA’72, PhD’78 — editor and publisher of Intermountain Jewish News, based in Denver — is the author of “Across the Expanse of Jewish Thought: From the Holocaust to Halakhah and Beyond” (Ktav Publishing House, 2022). In the book’s introduction, Hillel mentions Brandeis classmates Deborah Lipstadt, GSAS MA’72, PhD’76, H’19; Jehuda Reinharz, GSAS PhD’72, H’11; and Daniel Matt ’72, GSAS MA’76, PhD’78, and expresses his gratitude to faculty members Nahum Sarna; Nahum Glatzer, P’62, H’73, G’87; Ben Halpern; and Alexander Altmann, H’79.
Deborah Lipstadt, GSAS MA’72, PhD’76, H’19, the U.S. Department of State’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023 by Time magazine.
After 25 years, Tamar Rudavsky, GSAS MA’76, PhD’77, has stepped down as director of the Melton Center for Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University to return to the university’s philosophy department full time.
Vincent Mor, Heller PhD’79, professor of health services, policy, and practice at Brown University, was awarded McKnight’s Pinnacle Award in the Industry Ally category for his work shaping the future of the long-term care industry.
Elliot Karp, GSAS MJC’80, is chief development officer at the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the international network of the Reform, Liberal, Progressive, and Reconstructionist movements.
Pamela Haig Bartley, GSAS MFA’83, drama professor emerita at the University of Saskatchewan, is a freelance director and actor. She writes she would love to hear from other Brandeisians who were part of the early-’80s MFA acting program.
Carolyn Adams-Price, GSAS MA’84, a psychology professor at Mississippi State University, was awarded fellow status by the Gerontological Society of America and recognized at its annual meeting for her research into aging and creativity.
Albert Collinson, GSAS PhD’87, is an independent non-executive director at biopharmaceutical company Harbour BioMed. Formerly, he was president and chief executive officer at Theracos.
Adam Katz- Stone, GSAS MA’88, has retired after 35 years as a faculty member in political science at Georgia State University.
Daniel Morris, GSAS MA’88, PhD’92, is editor of “The Cambridge Companion to American Poetry and Politics Since 1900” (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and co-author of “From Upton Sinclair’s ‘Goose Step’ to the Neoliberal University: Essays on the Transformation of Higher Education” (Changemaker Publications, 2022). He is a professor of English at Purdue University.
Paul Overland, GSAS PhD’88, has written a commentary on Proverbs as part of the “Apollos Old Testament Commentary” series.
Barbara Clarke, IBS MA’91, has joined the board of trustees at Occidental College, in Los Angeles. She is the parent of an Occidental graduate.
Kevin J. McMahon, GSAS PhD’97, is the John R. Reitemeyer Professor of Political Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. At Trinity’s 2023 commencement, Kevin received a Trustees Award for his work at the university and for his research analyzing the relationship between U.S. presidents and the Supreme Court.
Kathy Weiler, IBS MA’97, is executive vice president/chief commercial and growth officer at Boston-based telemedicine company American Well Corp.
Hongkui Zeng, GSAS PhD’97, was elected in May to the National Academy of Sciences. Her research seeks to unravel mechanisms of brain circuitry and discover potential means for treating brain diseases.
Valerie Thaler, GSAS MA’98, is a synagogue consultant at New York City-based United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America. She was previously executive director at Congregation Beth Israel in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Nicholas Dagen Bloom, GSAS PhD’99, is the author of “The Great American Transit Disaster: A Century of Austerity, Auto-Centric Planning, and White Flight” (University of Chicago Press, 2023), which examines the United States’ disinvestment in mass transportation. He is a professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College.
Susan Daniels, GSAS MS’99, PhD’00, is the national autism coordinator at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ayesha Cammaerts, Heller MBA’04, is executive director at the Boston Foundation, a nonprofit in Boston that works to close the gap on the region’s greatest disparities. Formerly, she was senior manager of community programs and early-childhood lead at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Alison Better, GSAS MA’05, PhD’10, received the 2023 Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology from the American Sociological Association. She is a professor and sociology area coordinator at Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York.
Olajide Olagunju, Heller MA’06, GSAS MA’08, is editor-inchief of the Journal of Conflict Studies, which is launching its first Chinese edition. The journal is also available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese.
Rachel Goldin Jinich, IBS MA’07, oversees specialty real-estate finance at Wells Fargo, where she has worked since 2007.
Angelique Rwiyereka, Heller MS’07, MA’10, PhD’13, has started the nonprofit Wema Healthcare Initiative, which offers support to children with cancer in sub-Saharan Africa. Members of the Brandeis community, including Heller professor Donald Shepard, worked with Angelique during the early stages of the organization’s creation.
Historian Dominic Green, GSAS MA’08, PhD’12, is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Center for the Study of America and the West.
Toni Burke, Heller MPP’09, is head of strategic and investor relations at Boston-based investment firm Building Industry Partners.
In January 2024, Sarah Emond, Heller MPP’09, becomes president and CEO of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a medical research nonprofit based in Boston. Previously, she was the organization’s vice president and chief operating officer.
Jennifer Ritvo Hughes, GSAS MA’11, is the CEO of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. She oversees AFIPO’s daily operations, fundraising efforts, community engagement, and promotion of the orchestra in the United States and Canada. Jennifer most recently served as executive director of the Boston Baroque Orchestra.
Sebastian Scott, IBS MBA’15, is director of global supply management at laboratory-equipment provider Caron Products and Services, based in Marietta, Ohio.
Michael Dale, GSAS MA’16, is an assistant professor of philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College, in Virginia.
David Korenthal, GSAS MA’16, Heller MBA’16, is the Midwest director at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, which works with and advocates for Jewish summer camps around the world.
Steven Gonzalez, GSAS MA’17, is the author of “Sordidez,” a futurist science-fiction novella published in 2023 under the pen name E.G. Condé. The story, which takes place in a Puerto Rico devastated by climate change, was described by Publishers Weekly as “brutal, mystical, and deeply felt.”
Francois Tuyishime, Heller MA’17, has opened a coffee shop in Somerville, Massachusetts, called Yego Coffee. The coffee served there is sourced from Francois’ native Rwanda.
Ninette Irabaruta, Heller MA’18, is senior director of community engagement and outreach at the United Way of Southern Maine, based in Portland. She was previously the organization’s director of public policy and advocacy.
Elizabeth Smith, Heller MA’19, is director of development at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, in Hagerstown, Maryland. A native of Washington County, Elizabeth was formerly the community engagement and development manager at Potomac Case Management Services.
Lisa Davis, Heller MBA’20, is vice president and chief medical officer at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, in Rockford, Illinois.
Liz Mahon, GSAS MA’21, shares five meaningful life lessons she learned from her friends Alycia Sullivan Bisson, GSAS MA’17, PhD’21, and Xin Yao Lin, GSAS MA’19, PhD’22, who were her Brandeis Lifespan Lab colleagues and peer mentors: Stay lighthearted, and laugh multiple times a day; prioritize activities (both work and play) that bring genuine joy and fulfillment; don’t worry about what other people think; be open and honest with everyone in your life; and remember that every problem will have a resolution, so don’t let stress rule your day.
Political scientist Jamie Morgan, Heller MA’21, PhD’23, is a 2023-24 fellow in a selective, nonpartisan American Political Science Association program that allows participants to expand their knowledge of how Congress works by serving on congressional staffs.
Farah Shafi, Heller MBA’22, is chief medical officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island. An OB/GYN, she most recently served as deputy chief medical officer at the Mass General Brigham Health Plan.
Starting Jan. 1, 2024, Sherri Young, Heller MBA’22, becomes the first secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health, created after a larger state agency, the Department of Health and Human Resources, was divided into three separate units. Previously, Sherri was associate chief medical officer at the Vandalia Health Network.