Brandeis Magazine

I have been in touch with many of you over the past several months, and I am so glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Not too long ago, I biked down Boylston Street in Boston at midnight on a Hubway alongside Jason Unger, who was preparing to be deployed as a U.S. Army doctor in Afghanistan. Friends like Jason are just one of the many reasons I’m proud of my time at Brandeis. After seven years of working for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, I am now a vice president at Northwind Strategies, a Boston communications firm founded by former colleagues. I also continue to teach communications at Northeastern University and Emerson College. Stay in touch, and keep the Class Notes flowing.

Robyn (Kaplan) Ginese serves as associate director of student leadership and activities at Hofstra. She married Joe Ginese on May 26, 2013. Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson, who earned his PhD from MIT, is now an assistant professor at the George H.W. Bush School of Government at Texas A&M. This is the first time he’s lived outside Massachusetts since coming to Brandeis in 2002. If any alumni pass through the Bryan/College Station area, let him know (jrishifrinson@gmail.com). David Fried started a new job teaching Jewish studies at the Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield, Mich. Robin Katz married Josh Shayne on May 26, 2013, in Cleveland. Bridesmaids Lindsey Abramowitz and Amy Goldwasser celebrated with guests Jonathan Horowitz, Arnab Mukherjee and Ben Snodgrass. Noam Stern and Ali Stern ’05 signed the ketubah, and Daniel Estrin played the cello during the processional. The couple resides in Brooklyn. After Micah Hahn received her PhD in epidemiology/environment and resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she moved to Fort Collins, Colo., for a postdoctoral fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She is studying the impact of climate on the West Nile virus. It’s been a busy year for Andy Jaffe. He took a new job at Fidelity Investments and moved to Merrimack, N.H., in April 2013, completed his MBA at Boston University in July, and got married in Cohasset, Mass., in September. Sam Greenblatt, MA’06, began his MS in economics studies at the London School of Economics in fall 2013. Loren Bach just graduated from medical school and is starting his general surgery residency at the University of Minnesota. He and his wife had their first child, Eliana. Esther Jane Bloom was born on Oct. 6, 2013, to Rachel (Gershman) Bloom and her husband, David. Rachel, a licensed clinical social worker, reports that she is putting work on hold until the end of June to stay home with Esther — and is loving every minute she spends with her daughter. Benjamin Mervak married Julie Heringhausen on June 16, 2013, at University Lutheran Chapel in Ann Arbor, Mich. The couple met as medical students at the University of Michigan. Benjamin is a radiology resident at the University of Michigan Hospital, and sees patients there and at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Jonah Mink has begun his residency in the Department of Family Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He graduated from the Medical School for International Health in Israel, a partnership between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Columbia University Medical Center. Rose Auerbach and Jonathan Tash were engaged on April 20, 2013, in Newport, R.I. Edgar Ndjatou recently founded his own law firm, which specializes in employment law. He represents both employees and employers in the public and private sectors. Arnab Mukherjee is pursuing his MBA at the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Dan Mauer continues to serve as the legislative director for U.S. Rep. George Miller of California. Lianna Levine Reisner, Elnatan Reisner ’05 and big sister Maayan, 3, welcomed Lev Meir to the family on July 25, 2013. Brian Schon left his career in health policy and consulting to join the Peace Corps. He is a community and economic development volunteer in Pyriatyn, Ukraine, where he works with a local NGO on regional business, economic and social development issues. Joshua Simmons was appointed chair of the new Copyright Law Reform Task Force by the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section. The task force, formed in response to the comprehensive review of U.S. copyright law being conducted by the House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary, will focus on contextualizing the current debate over the scope of copyright law and addressing copyright’s application to new technological advancements as well as other copyright issues. Laurinda Uang is a deal/contract manager at Oracle in Boston. Matthew Goldstein left the U.S. Department of State to pursue an MBA at Columbia Business School with the intention of transitioning from international affairs to international finance. After earning a master’s from the London School of Economics following graduation from Brandeis, he served as a State Department diplomat for five years in Washington, D.C., and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He traveled to more than 40 countries, negotiated several U.N. Security Council resolutions and authored a number of U.S. foreign policies. Rafi Farber and his wife, Natasha, have two daughters, Tzivia and Dafna. They live in Karnei Shomron, Israel. Rafi writes, “Since graduating, I have become a libertarian activist and self-educated economist of the Austrian School. I make a living as an investment analyst/financial public-relations guy. I’m not sure what people call me, as I have no title or degree. I guess my philosophy/NEJS degree was enough.” Kai Kadoich works in strategy and business development at the Japanese headquarters of Medtronic, a Minnesota-based company that is the world’s largest implantable medical device manufacturer. He has lived in Japan for seven years, the last five in Tokyo. He writes, “Japan-bound travelers, don’t hesitate to get in touch to meet up for a meal while you’re in town.” Rachel Margolies is pleased to announce her upcoming wedding to Michael Hoffnung. Mazel tov to sister and brother-in-law Shira Margolies ’04, MA’05, and Jon Waldstreicher ’05; cousin Rebecca Pollack ’13; uncle Mark Margolies ’80; and the entire family. Michaelanne Besch married Andrew Robinton on Aug. 31, 2013, in New York. Michaelanne is an executive assistant in Google’s New York engineering office. Andrew is a senior consultant in Deloitte Consulting’s strategy and operations group.