Brandeis Magazine

Sandra Rappaport and Michele Becker Hamou spent time together at the beach last summer with their spouses. Sandra writes, “Since I live in California and Michele lives in New York, we cherish these getaways.”

Laurie Sutherland and Ted Papalimberis ’89, both P’31, are excited their daughter Arielle Papalimberis, Heller PhD’31, is pursuing a doctorate in social policy at the Heller School. “I have finally realized my dream of having one of our daughters attend Brandeis,” Laurie writes.

Joel Cohen is a board-certified dermatologist in Denver. Fellowship-trained in Mohs skin-cancer surgery and aesthetic dermatology, Joel has been named a Denver Top Doctor 11 times and a Castle Connelly Top Doctor 13 times. He has co-authored three academic textbooks and served as a principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials. He is also an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Irvine, where he recently received the Faculty of the Year Award.

Julie Marshall was part of a group backing a 2024 ballot measure in Colorado to ban the trophy-hunting of mountain lions and the fur-trapping of bobcats.

Nancy Steinberg is director of communications and marketing at Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Previously, she was a science writer on the college’s communications staff.

Randi Sumner is secretary at the Highland Park (New Jersey) Democratic Committee and serves as the representative for her borough district. She is also chair of the LGBT+ caucus in New Jersey’s Middlesex County Democratic Organization.

Joel Waldman left traditional broadcast media after 27 years (most recently, he was a Fox News national correspondent) and launched a true-crime podcast called “Surviving the Survivor.” His co-host is his mom, Karm, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, “the oldest active podcaster in America,” says Joel. “She’s also the focus of my new book, endorsed by Mitch Albom ’79, titled ‘Surviving the Survivor.’ It’s a funny memoir with amazing advice that will change how you see life.” Joel lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Ileana; kids Vida, Zizi, and Judah Mac; and dogs Fred and Ethel.

Jonah Kaplan is senior program manager at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he leads the federal agency’s consumer reporting markets program. He writes, “What’s impressed me most about my time in public service has been the people drawn to it. They’re some of the smartest, most dedicated, and most civic-minded professionals, and they include — no surprise — many Brandeisians.”

Craig Wolfson is president of Temple Chaverim, in Plainview, New York.

Theater producer Sue Gilad, who earned her fifth Tony Award for “The Outsiders,” which was honored as Best Musical in 2024, is developing another musical, “Burlesque,” in the U.K.

Seth Kessler and Lee Sosin, who met on their first day at Brandeis, report they are still close friends, and still married to women they met at the university, Dara Neumann Kessler ’95 and Michelle Shalit Sosin. In 2023, Seth and Lee launched GapWell, which offers products and services that help high school and college students navigate the journey from classes to career. “We’ve only just begun making an impact on the lives of young adults,” they write. “Hey, Brandeis, thanks for putting us in rooms next to each other on the Usen first floor in August 1990. We owe you one.”

Jonathan Leiken was inducted into the Shaker Schools Alumni Hall of Fame in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in September 2024. He has served as chief legal officer at two large public companies, and teaches as an adjunct law professor at the Case Western Reserve and Ohio State law schools.

Matthew Moore, a 30-year veteran of the hotel industry, is the general manager of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort, on Martha’s Vineyard. In July 2024, Winnetu was featured in Travel + Leisure magazine’s World’s Best listings as the No. 1 hotel in New England, No. 3 hotel in the U.S., and No. 16 hotel in the world.

Ilya Rozhdestvensky writes, “I am working on a new venture that can potentially disrupt production of insulin through ecological methods that include the use of plants.”

Thomas Fry is an internal medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he’s worked 15 years.

Rachel Greenfield is founder of the Jewish Parents Leadership Council, based in New York City, which fights antisemitism, and advocates for fact-based education on Israel and the Middle East in pre-K-12 curriculum. The council, whose members include Jennifer Muhlrad ’96 and Pamela Workman ’94, represents more than 40 independent and public schools in the tri-state area.

No Class Notes submissions this issue.

Last August, Leanne Boucher celebrated the publication of “Sensational Animal Senses: Living in a Noisy, Smelly, Tasty, Slimy, Tipsy, Colorful World” by Magination Press. The book is geared toward readers ages 12 and up. One of Leanne’s previous books, “Big Brain Book: How It Works and All Its Quirks,” was a 2021 INDIES book award finalist and won a 2022 Kids’ Book Choice Award. She is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Libra Forde is the executive director at Women’s Foundation of Oregon.

Ariel Margolis is the founder of VETS | STEM, a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship, financial literacy help, scholarships, and entrepreneurial opportunities to U.S. veterans who seek STEM degrees.

Benjamin Greenberg is chief of pediatric cardiac anesthesia at Primary Children’s Hospital, in Salt Lake City. He and wife Elisa Pardo ’97 have three sons: Jaden, a junior at Northeastern University; Henry, a freshman at the University of Miami; and Noah, a ninth grader.

Adam M. Greenwald is director of development at Urban Peace Institute, an organization that seeks to transform justice and ensure freedom from violence. He is also chair of the Brandeis Alumni Association’s LGBTQIA+ Network and co-chair of the DEI committee. Adam, who is engaged to Juan Ponce, lives in the Los Angeles suburbs with his teenage daughter and college-age son.

Alex Heckler was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, D.C. He also served as the deputy national finance chair for the Kamala Harris Victory Fund and as a delegate for Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On the business front, Alex’s consulting firm, LSN Partners, now has five offices and approximately 40 employees nationwide.

Branden Kornell and wife Simona Gokhin founded BKSG Consulting, a boutique analytics and data visualization firm specializing in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and health-care industries.

Miriam Manglani is senior manager for customer experience learning at audio equipment manufacturer Sonos, where she leads a team that creates training to support customer service agents and internal engineers. Her book of poetry “Invisible Lines” has been accepted by Kelsay Books for publication. Miriam is a mother of three.

In July 2024, A. David Lewis spoke at the international Graphic Medicine Conference, in Athlone, Ireland, on the topic of the global loneliness epidemic and its health effects.