Brandeis Magazine

Documentary filmmaker Ken Browne is finishing production on “Why Doctors Write.” He’d like to film even more stories, and welcomes hearing about empathetic physicians who have published about their clinical work and believe in the power of the arts to support and train clinicians. Peggy Fried has almost completely retired from her private practice as a plaintiff-side employment lawyer. Now the grandmother to 10 is an environmental activist in Pittsburgh, fighting against regional pollution and climate change. Rosalie Gerut, an educational psychologist and singer/songwriter, is writing a book, “Journeys of Transformation,” about the work done by One by One, a nonprofit she co-founded, which brings together people who have suffered during war and genocide. She performed at Regattabar, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October. See rosaliegerut.com for complete information about her recordings and concert appearances. Michael Hammerschmidt is vice president for development at the Science History Institute. He and his husband, Gary Groth, are moving to Philadelphia from Marblehead, Massachusetts, this spring. Son Benjamin, who earned a master’s in international trade at Shanghai Maritime University, lives in Long Beach, California, where he is working on the computerization and automation of the Port of Los Angeles. Julie Hollins, P’09, has retired in Southbury, Connecticut, where she enjoys painting, printmaking, pottery and vegetable gardening. Her children — twins Rebecca ’09 and Elissa, and Paul — live in Pittsburgh, New Haven and Barcelona. She’d welcome hearing from classmates. David Lowe, P’10, is writing “Touched With Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle Against Racial and Religious Discrimination.” This biography of Brandeis’ second president will be published in the fall by Potomac Books. David retired in 2016 after working 27 years at the National Endowment for Democracy, most recently as vice president for government relations and public affairs. Otherine Neisler is deputy director at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Sultan Qaboos University, in Muscat, Oman. Warren Soiffer credits many of his successes as a foreign service officer to his studies with Brandeis history professor David Hackett Fischer: “I enjoyed telling America’s story in places as diverse as Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Ivory Coast,” he writes. Retired from the State Department for more than a decade, he is married to Mag, a high-school classmate, and has five grandchildren. He lives in Manhattan and Woodstock, New York; winters in Boca Raton, Florida; and writes fiction and memoir.