Brandeis Magazine
Newsmakers
Celebrating noteworthy achievements by the Brandeis community.
In May, University Professor Eve Marder ’69, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience, and immunologist Drew Weissman ’81, GSAS MA’81, P’15, H’23, were elected to the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States, as part of its biological sciences class. Marder earned the National Medal of Science in 2023. Weissman received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research leading to the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, Columbia Law School faculty member Seyla Benhabib ’72 was elected as part of the APS social sciences class.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has awarded associate professor of chemistry Grace Han the 2024 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship. This international award, established in 2013 to recognize emerging scientists in the early stages of their careers, is given to one or two outstanding scientists each year.
University Professor Jonathan Sarna ’75, GSAS MA’75, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, has received the 2024 Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award from the American Jewish Historical Society. According to the AJHS, which is home to more than 30 million documents and artifacts related to Jewish history in the United States, the honor goes to an individual or group “whose contribution reflects the highest values of the American Jewish community.”
Biology professor Colleen Hitchcock has received a 2024-25 Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Award. The award supports pairs of faculty — made up of a faculty member from the United States and another from the United Kingdom — as they develop virtual exchange programs for undergraduates that tackle four specific global challenges: climate change, racial justice, inequality, and political polarization.
In July, Ted Gilman, P’21, took over as director of Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which offers seminars, lectures, and speaker series for adult learners. Formerly an associate professor of political science at Union College and the executive director of Harvard’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Gilman has spent nearly three decades in higher education.
Professor Sharon Reif, Heller MA’00, PhD’02, is the new director of the Institute for Behavioral Health at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, where she has been part of the IBH leadership team for more than 15 years. Professor Connie Horgan, the outgoing director, has shifted her focus to co-leading Heller’s Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research with Stuart Altman, the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy.
Amy Morton became the university’s senior vice president of marketing and communications in July. Before joining Brandeis, she spent 11 years at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, first serving as chief marketing officer, and later as senior vice president and chief of staff. Earlier, she worked in publishing and marketing for education-focused companies, including Pearson, and consulted at educational nonprofits.