Brandeis Magazine

Nana Owusu-Sarpong, Heller MBA’16, has been elected to the Posse Foundation’s national board of directors. He is executive chief resident in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, through NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. U.S. Chess National Master Evan Rabin has been teaching chess virtually to students at all levels via his company, Premier Chess. He reports it was fun teaching 80 Brandeis alumni from many different class years in a lesson last fall. Rachel Salston became rabbi at the Fair Lawn (New Jersey) Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel on Aug. 1. Zachary Sax has joined Boston Common Podiatry, a group practice in Boston’s Back Bay, as its foot and ankle surgeon. He and wife Adi Fried ’14 have two daughters. Jeremy Weinberg married Sarah Gurvis Weinberg, MAT’15, on Oct. 18 in a small pandemic-friendly ceremony in Otis, Massachusetts, attended by immediate family. They hope to celebrate with a larger group of friends and family this year. Alexandra Weiser has been named the first female cantor at Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David, in Rockville Centre, New York. Emily (Kraus) Willey and husband Dan welcomed their first child, Colette London, in August. Emily and Dan met when they lived on the same hall in Shapiro during their first year at Brandeis. They now live with Colette and dog Annabelle in Boston.

COMEDY FOR A CAUSE: The show went on for bilingual comedian and Beijing resident Jesse Appell ’12, even after the pandemic stranded him in Boston. Known for using comedy to build a bridge between the U.S. and China, Appell did a February 2020 stand-up show to raise money to send medical supplies to COVID-affected areas in China and, from his parents’ kitchen, is hosting the “Jesse@Home” talk show on YouTube for an international audience of more than 2 million.