1980s
45th Reunion: Oct. 24-26
Anne Exter has retired after a career of more than 44 years at Verizon and its predecessor companies. Anne joined New England Telephone as a management trainee a week after graduating from Brandeis.
Lisa Kitinoja is retiring as treasurer of the Postharvest Education Foundation, which she founded in 2011. The nonprofit offers programs that help reduce global food losses while maintaining food quality, market value, nutritional value and safety.
Henry Kopel is on the global advisory board of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, a Canada-based NGO that publishes research on Arab-Israeli peace efforts, and works to counter antisemitism and anti-Israelism in the media and on campuses.
Susan Laufer retired in April 2024 after a long career in the pharmaceutical industry, including nearly 25 years in regulatory intelligence. She and husband Simon moved to the Chicago area a few years ago to be near their two grandchildren.
After retiring from the Wayland (Massachusetts) Public Library, Andrew Moore plans to take classes, travel, make music and art, and volunteer in the Cambridge public schools.
Eric Rajendra, who does international consulting work from Washington, D.C., is writing a collection of essays titled “Confessions of American Dogs.”
Lydia Saravis received the 2024 Beacon of Hope Award from the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network for her work in behalf of bladder cancer patients and families.
Michael Eggert, who attended a 65th birthday party for Michael Barr, P’09, P’12, alongside other Class of 1981 friends, writes he is still grateful for the education and connections he made at Brandeis.
Alma Katsu optioned a story, “The Spy Who Vanished,” to Sony Television. She now has three stories in development for television. Her ninth novel, “Fiend,” will be published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons this September.
Laura Miller Mann, P’15, keeps busy with nonprofit volunteering, and visits with her older daughter and two grandsons in Bethesda, Maryland. Younger daughter Esther Mann ’15 is finishing a hematology-oncology fellowship and is engaged to Carl Levy.
A former Zionist activist on campus, Jeff Rubin is communications director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He and wife Debbie have two granddaughters, ages 1 and 4.
Amid their retirement travels, Nelson Handel and his wife, Elicia Laport, have decided to live in Barcelona for a year. Nelson accepted a position coaching for Club Joventut Badalona, one of the largest professional basketball clubs in Spain. Follow Nelson’s adventures via his newsletter (www.retiremoon.me).
In November 2024, Jeff Kole, president of Kole Investment Co., was inducted into the JA Savannah (Georgia) Business Hall of Fame.
Since they retired, Teta Moehs and husband Bill have divided their time between Belfast, Maine, and Leipzig, Germany. In summer 2024, they heard the Brandeis Chamber Singers perform in Leipzig. “It brought back such fond memories of choir and early-music ensemble experiences at Brandeis,” Teta writes.
Lance Kawesch has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 14 years, including in 2024.
Last year, David Lewis celebrated the 40th anniversary of trade policy and investment advisory firm Manchester Trade Ltd., where he has served as vice president since 2001. He is a member of the advisory board at the American Jewish International Relations Institute.
Jodi Traub, P’12, reports her daughter and son-in-law have moved back to Massachusetts. Her daughter has a position at Applied Market Science, and her son-in-law works at Traub Capital Management with Jodi’s husband, Heydon.
Stephen Coan, Heller MMHS’90, PhD’97, is executive director and COO at the National Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, a youth mentoring program. He also serves on the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation board and on the New England Commission of Higher Education, an accrediting body for colleges and universities.
Israel resident Judy Feinsilver Montel recently moved from Beit Shemesh to Yerucham, where she enjoys the desert air and teaches violin.
Ric Wheeler is vice president of engineering at Versity, which creates software that manages large data archives. Ric recently presented at the Alpine Linux Persistence and Storage Summit, which takes its name seriously by asking presenters and attendees to make a two-hour hike up to an Alpine club hut in Austria. Ric and wife Natalie live in the Boston area.
40th Reunion: Oct. 24-26
Brandeis Alumni Association president Amy Cohen and husband Sid Levinson are excited to attend the class’s 40th Reunion during the 2025 Alumni Weekend. She writes, “Please join us! It would be great to catch up with everyone and hear what you have been up to. Feel free to reach out to me at alumni@brandeis.edu with any questions.”
Melanie Flamenbaum writes, “For the past year, I’ve been helping my sister, Dana (Flamenbaum) Goldstein ’88, find a living kidney donor. Please visit her National Kidney Registry website at www.nkr.org/TDE863.”
Bernard Gerson is a program coordinator at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, providing administrative support to the pediatric medical-education team and serving as part of the SPIRIT affinity group at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Philip Katzman and wife Joanne have sons in college (at Binghamton University and Rochester Institute of Technology). The couple’s recent trip to Ireland included a walking tour of Jewish Dublin.
Gary Massey’s business, Massey and Co., was recognized in 2024 by Atlanta Best Media as the best CPA firm in Dunwoody, Georgia.
Karen Wasserman is celebrating her 25th anniversary as director of Your Elder Experts, the aging life care management program at Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Boston. Karen founded the program, which is now the area’s largest nonprofit care-management group.
Malca Bassan celebrated the publication of Homey Recipes Jewish Calendar 2024-25, which she wrote. She is also the author of the 2023 book “Anécdotas de Papá,” which examines her father’s favorite sayings.
Cary Zel is a member of the board of Young Musicians Unite, a nonprofit that provides free in-school music education in Miami’s underserved communities.
Scott Spitzer, P’24, a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton, says he enjoyed being on campus for Brandeis’ 75th-anniversary celebration. Scott and wife Marcia Tilchin’s middle child, Sheindl Spitzer-Tilchin ’24, is pursuing a master’s degree through the university’s Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program.
Matt Axelrod is executive director of the Cantors Assembly, the world’s largest group of professional cantors. He is only the fourth person to serve in this role since the assembly’s founding in 1947.
Ranjit Chaudhri celebrated the publication of his fourth book, “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,” in June 2024.
Dana (Flamenbaum) Goldstein writes, “I’ve been on dialysis for more than a year and am in need of a kidney transplant. To learn more about my story or about kidney donation, please visit www.nkr.org/TDE863.”
Michelle Leder has returned to the U.S. after spending a year in Paris while husband Scott Cooper worked on an animated movie there. During their stay, the family took trips to Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., as well as many parts of France. Michelle says her study of the French language didn’t advance much beyond un petit peu.
Stephanie Maroun, GSAS MA’90, is assistant director of admission at Schechter Boston, where she writes the school’s magazine. She also serves on the board of her synagogue, Temple Emmanuel of Wakefield (Massachusetts). She and husband Al have four children: Tirzah (29), Judah (27), Hillel (26) and Hadas (24).
Rachel Miranda, P’14, of Hackensack, New Jersey, is working on her first novel, “Broken Chocolate,” which will be published by Vine Leaves Press in March 2026. To learn more about her creative-writing activities, see www.rachelmiranda.com.
Pratyoush Onta co-edited the book “Nepal in the Long 1950s” (Martin Chautari, 2024) and is the principal investigator of a three-year research project on the history of school education in Nepal.
Marc Tobin reports he and Adam Brauer, Haim Chasman ’91, Elliot Felig, Stuart Schrader ’90, Harold Simansky and Greg Zuckerman meet regularly on Zoom to discuss current events and “work on saving the world.”
Michelle (Davis) Cohen — with the guidance of real estate-savvy Michelle Fiddler — sold her home and purchased a new townhouse. The Michelles, former Brandeis roommates, also co-chaired the Friday-night soiree for the Class of 1989’s 35th Reunion in September 2024.
Amadea Leonore is a professional musician, painter and sculptor who lives in Berlin.
Rakesh Rajani is among a group of colleagues working to create JustSystems, a platform that helps Global South government and civil-society leaders improve public systems. He and his wife split their time between New York; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.