Brandeis Magazine

Elliot Karp, MJC’80, is the CEO of Hillels of Georgia. Jo Anne Preston, PhD’82, was elected to a five-year seat on the Arlington (Massachusetts) Housing Authority. Previously, she served as a Town Meeting member for Precinct 9, which encompasses three of the five housing complexes the Arlington Housing Authority serves. She lives in Arlington with husband John Burt, the Paul E. Prosswimmer Professor of American Literature at Brandeis, and their daughter. Andrew Rice, PhD’82, is the Nancy Chang, PhD, Endowed Professor in Baylor University’s Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology. He and a colleague have been awarded a grant for a project called “Discovery of Pharmacological Modulators for NEAT1 IncRNA and Reactivation of Latent HIV-1.” Appalachian State University awarded Claudia Cartaya-Marin, PhD’85, its Chancellor’s Award for Inclusive Excellence. She is a professor in and chair of the university’s chemistry and fermentation sciences department, and serves on the chief diversity officer’s advisory board. She created a summer bridge program for students who are entering STEM programs, and helped found an association for Hispanic and Latinx faculty and staff. Laurie Ruderfer-Ellman, Heller MMH’85, executive director of Youth and Family Services of Haddam-Killingworth (Connecticut), has been appointed to the board of directors of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southern Connecticut. In March, Joann Montepare, PhD’86, moderated a WBUR CitySpace conversation titled “Age Is Not a Medical Condition: Healthy Aging After 50” (Brandeis anthropology professor Sarah Lamb was one of the panelists). Joann is a professor of psychology and director of the RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies at Lasell University, in Newton, Massachusetts. Patrick Casey, PhD’87, is senior vice dean of research at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. Earlier this year, he announced the school is working with Arcturus Therapeutics on a COVID-19 vaccine. Shirley Girouard, Heller PhD’88, is a health policy consultant at the Council of State Governments. She is also co-director of the Health Resources and Services Administration geriatric workforce education program at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, in Brooklyn. Ha Jin, MA’89, PhD’93, H’05, professor of English at Boston University, discussed his book “The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai” as part of the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in June.