Alum Careers
Brandeis students celebrating convocation in 1979. Photo courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
GSAS students attending the Connected PhD Graduate Student Retreat on March 5th. Students learned a variety of essential skills required to successfully navigate a graduate curriculum, fostered networking connections across disciplines, and gained advice in professional development. Photo courtesy of Jon Anjaria.
Photo courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
GSAS students competed in the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Brandeis competition this past spring. The competition is designed to showcase graduate student research in three minutes using one slide with the idea of appealing to a general audience. Photo courtesy of Marika McCann.
Photo courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
May 17, 2023
Anik Chartrand | PhD Candidate in English
Research excellence has always been a hallmark of GSAS students, enabling them to excel in academia and research positions after graduation. However, the traditional path to academia after graduate school has undergone significant changes in recent years due to shifts in the academic job market. As a result, an increasing number of graduate students are seeking careers in industry after graduation. While these changes may appear stressful and concerning, GSAS and its students have long recognized the value of funding for diverse careers and for staff who can help students figure out how to get there.
Within the first cohort of GSAS students, there were already indications of diverse and remarkable career paths. Adaire Klein, a member of the first class that entered GSAS in 1953, worked as a teacher and then became the librarian and archivist at the Museum of Tolerance, preserving the memory of the Holocaust. Another student of the same cohort, John Moriarty, who was among the first music graduate students to perform at Brandeis, established an illustrious career as one of America’s preeminent vocal coaches and accompanists after his time at Brandeis.
In 1978, Brandeis received a $59,000 grant from the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Office of Education to improve or establish public services programs on the graduate level. The grant supplied financial aid for graduate students who were planning to work either in government or in nonprofit community service organizations. GSAS students in the 1970s were also anxious to work with career counselors to develop skills in resume writing and learn about job opportunities.
Today, through initiatives such as Brandeis’ Connected PhD program, the GSAS Professional Development office, and GSAS’ partnership with The Rabb School’s Graduate Professional Studies, current GSAS students and alums are embracing the new trajectory of academia and pursuing successful and fulfilling careers after graduation. Below are just a few examples of GSAS students who leveraged their research excellence training, teaching responsibilities, professional development workshops, internships, and administrative roles to achieve success after graduation, both in academia and beyond.
Larry Abbott, Physics PhD ’77, is the William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Danielle Azzarti, Genetic Counseling MS ‘09, is a senior project manager in the Program in Medical and Population Genetics Translational Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Aviv Ben-Or, NEJS PhD ‘17, works in Content Risk and Compliance at Google.
Patrick Casey, Biochemistry PhD ’86, is the Senior Vice Dean of Research at Duke-NUS Medical School and Founding Director of the Duke Center for Chemical Biology.
Peter Child, Music PhD ’81, is a Professor of Music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and formerly composer in residence with the New England Philharmonic.
Lila Fakharzadeh, Neuroscience PhD ’20, is a Computational Biologist at RCH Solutions, a Scientific Computing and Bio-IT consultant firm.
Bernard Hishamunda, Physics PhD ‘17 is a Senior Data Scientist at Adobe, Inc.
Brittany Long, Anthropology MA ‘13, is a Lead market Research Analyst for Bloomberg Industry Group.
Jason M. Olson, NEJS PhD ‘16 is a Navy Foreign Area Officer for the US Marine Corps.
Robert Pearson, Musicology PhD ‘10, is the Assistant Dean of Professional Development and Career Planning at Emory University.
Adam Rutledge, English PhD ‘17, is a shareholder and Director of Rice, Heard & Bigelow, a private trustee office in Boston, which he joined in 2010 while completing his PhD.
Jonathan Sarna, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies ’75, MA ’75, is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University.
Alan Taylor, History PhD ’86, is the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He is also a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize and National Book Award finalist.
Drew Weissman, Biochemistry/Enzymology MA ’81, is a Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2021 he received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award to recognize his crucial work in the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Xiru Zhang, Computer Science MA ‘90, PhD ‘91, is the founder of Double Q Investments, former Chief Investment Officer at AlphaSimplex Group, and currently serves on the Brandeis Board of Trustees. Zhang was also the first doctoral candidate in computer science at Brandeis.
Jayne Ziemba, English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies MA’11, is an Associate Managing Editor at Penguin Random House.
For more profiles on GSAS alumni career paths, visit the GSAS Professional Development office to read interviews with alumni who have sought careers in the private sector, non-profit, public sector and government, healthcare, and more!