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1956
Franklin Stein, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, recently published two books, Research in Occupational Therapy 7th edition (2025) and Occupational Therapy and Stress (2026), both from Taylor and Francis.
1959
As one of the Peace Corps’ earliest acolytes, Judith Guskin is celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Corps by raising money for The Peace Corps Park in Washington, D.C.
1962
Carol Zimmerman Brody’s artwork is featured in the March 2026 issue of The Art of Watercolor, which also includes an interview with the artist.
1963
Bertram Gordon shares that war tourism remains one of the fastest‑growing areas of the tourism industry, a topic explored in his forthcoming Routledge book Tourism and War: Their Links through History, which traces connections from ancient visitors to Troy to today’s online spectators of what has been called the world’s first “TikTok War.” He also continues his work on the history of chocolate and delivered his talk “Valentines and Chocolate: Their Connections Through History” at the Contra Costa County Library in Orinda, California, on February 14, 2026. His earlier research on chocolate appeared in Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage (Wiley, 2009).
Michael Lowenberg and his wife, Julie, recently celebrated their 60th anniversary and marked their 45th year as Texas Rangers season‑ticket holders. A retired attorney who still occasionally serves as an arbitrator, he and Julie—who met in law school—have lived in Dallas since 1966, remain active in community nonprofits, and continue their efforts to turn Texas “blue.” They enjoy visits with their three children, now in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, and seven grandchildren—and keep several Brooklyn College T‑shirts and a Brooklyn Dodgers cap close at hand.
Melvin H. Nutig has self‑published a memoir, Code Blues: A Surgeon’s Journey With Depression, available on Amazon in hardback and paperback. The book recounts his childhood in Coney Island, his years at Brooklyn College, medical school in Bologna, and his career as an orthopedic surgeon in Beverly Hills, alongside his long struggle with depression, which he ultimately overcame through talk therapy and medication. He hopes the story will inspire Brooklyn College students who face similar challenges.
1964
Stephen Lewis’s novel From Infamy to Hope has been selected as one of the Best Indie Books and will be featured in the April edition of Kirkus.
1965
Charles Randolph founded the largest mobile dental and health company in the country, serving poor and rural communities in New York and many other states at the request of Governor Pataki. The organization has provided this care for 21 years.
1966
Gregory Salamo retired on January 31, 2026, after 51 years as a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Arkansas. He notes that his research and teaching awards were made possible by the exceptional faculty he studied with at Brooklyn College and extends his heartfelt thanks to them.
1967
Alan Pearlmutter, DMA, teaches original music history courses at Bristol and Quinsigamond community colleges as well as world music for Fitchburg State University and jazz history for Quinsigamond. With his wife, clarinetist Linda Poland, he performs Nostalgia Songfests for senior communities in Massachusetts, and from 2011 to 2022 he conducted rarely known repertoire for Kammerwerke, a professional double wind quintet.
1969
Ernestine “Tina” Volpe earned an M.A. in education after completing her B.A. from New Paltz in 1964 and taught at Glen Head Elementary School until 1969 before taking maternity leave. She later returned to the New York City school system, became assistant‑to‑principal at P.S. 172K, and eventually served as principal of P.S. 295. She is now retired in Florham Park, New Jersey.
Martin Eisenberg recently exhibited his watercolor paintings at his local Jewish community center.
1972
In 2025, Arnold Saltzman received second place in the American Prize for a professional composer of a major choral work for A Choral Symphony: Halevi and also earned the Thomas Putsche Prize for his opera Geniza: Hidden Fragments. His choral symphony had its European premiere at the Alba Music Festival and its North American premiere with the American University Orchestra and Chorus.
Gary Shulman, M.S.Ed., spent his career supporting vulnerable families and children, beginning in an inclusive Head Start program in Brooklyn and later serving as special needs and early childhood coordinator at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. He spent 24 years as social services and training director for Resources for Children with Special Needs, then worked as a private special‑needs consultant conducting hundreds of trainings. Now retired in Arlington, Virginia, he continues to support families as an advisory commissioner and shares his poetry with the aim of making the world better “one word at a time.”
1973
William Trimarco, performing as Bill Turner, has built a lifelong career as a full-time musician since founding his band Blue Smoke after graduation—a group that remains active today. In 2025 alone, he completed his 12th through 14th European tours, adding to more than 12,000 performances worldwide.
1974
Edith Berry, founder of The Berry Professional Services, was invited by Amazing Grace Etiquette to serve as an empowerment speaker for parents at the Marriott Raleigh Hotel. In 2025 she earned a doctorate in education from Fayetteville State University, was inducted into Phi Lambda Theta, and continues to advocate for educational empowerment.
1975
Beth Anna MoonRay Ferguson published her first book, Shhhhhhh, in 2024, reflecting on personal trauma and encouraging healing through forgiveness. An intercultural choreographer, she has worked in the mental health field for 19 years with Transitional Services for New York, using dance to support individuals in recovery. While at Brooklyn College, she participated in Royal Shakespeare Company workshops and received private lessons from the late Cicely Berry. Now 74 and still dancing, she is launching a venture to bring dance back into city schools. Her next book will be titled Since I’m Shrinking, Why Can’t I Find My Toes!?
1976
Rosa Linda (Rosie) Guadarrama received her D.M. from Claremont School of Theology in 2016 with a 4.3 average and an award from By Faith Magazine.
Andrew Kass announces the release of his Civil War spy thriller A Woman of Agency, published by Holand Press.
1978
James Crescitelli has launched a small publishing company and released Around the Corner and Up the Block, an autobiographical fiction collection of 14 stories set in 1960s Bay Ridge, now available on Amazon. He continues to work full time at a historical society in Winter Garden, Florida, and lives in nearby Winter Park.
1979
Madlyn Epstein Steinhart, ’79, ’81 M.S., has published her fourth book, a memoir titled Found at Last, which explores discovering previously unknown family and a sense of belonging.
Allison B. Reiss, M.D., a board‑certified physician and molecular biologist, studies Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and serves as head of the Inflammation Laboratory and associate professor of medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine. She has published widely, appears regularly in media as a field expert, and remains dedicated to improving health care for older adults.
1982
Paul J. Richman, Chief Government and Political Affairs Officer at the Insured Retirement Institute, was named to Washingtonian’s 2026 “500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy” list for the fifth consecutive year. He was recognized for advocating for workers and retirees and for leading efforts behind the SECURE Act (2019) and SECURE 2.0 Act (2022), landmark retirement security laws.
Joshua A. Sky, M.A., SPHR, SHRM‑SCP, recently earned the IAC Masteries‑Practitioner™ credential, adding to his HRCI and SHRM certifications. President of The Sky’s The Limit Consulting, Inc. since 1999, he provides training, facilitation, and coaching across sectors nationwide and globally, following an 11‑year teaching career in Brooklyn.
1991
Loraine Alderman recently published her fourth book, .
1995
Ellen Levitt’s seventh book, Former Synagogues of the United States, was published by Wipf & Stock in February 2026. In 2025 she contributed an essay to the anthology Manna Songs from ELJ Editions.
1998
Stephen Rutenberg has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the Miami office, where his work focuses on digital assets, blockchain technology, fintech, and special‑situations investing.
2000
Melissa Eleftherion Carr has two poetry collections forthcoming in 2026. Suture (Cooper Dillon) uses erasure and persona poems drawn from V.C. Andrews to explore trauma, women’s agency, and identity through fragmentation, while Malocchia (White Stag) is a narrative collection about lineage and the refusal to abandon the self.
2001
Christopher Grosso, M.F.A., serves as executive director of The Center for Loss and Bereavement, a nonprofit providing grief counseling, groups, and education to individuals and families in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, for more than 25 years.
2003
Rosario Cardenas credits Brooklyn College with preparing her to face life’s challenges as a single mother of four, earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees before becoming a licensed New York City teacher. She retired during COVID and continues to advocate passionately for “the beacon of light” that is Brooklyn College.
2004
Vincent Cobb recently earned a Ph.D. in economics at Howard University and serves as a full-time economics lecturer at Morgan State University.
Danielle Silverman uses her degree in accounting and her master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology (2011) to support community mobilization initiatives in underrepresented New York neighborhoods.
2011
Malcolm Brewer will run the 2026 Boston Marathon as part of his quest to earn the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal, having already completed the New York, London, and Chicago marathons. He has spent over a decade in business leadership and now serves as owner/operator of a Chick‑fil‑A, employing more than 60 New Yorkers.
2012
Jordan E. Franklin, ’12, ’20 M.S.Ed., is the Spring 2026 Philip Roth Creative Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University. Her second poetry collection, make it to the end (of the movie), was chosen by Evie Shockley for the 2025 Blessing the Boats Selection and will be published by BOA Editions Ltd. in Fall 2027.
Maria Vera has been reflecting on the way a lifetime of daily walking can add up to roughly five trips around the Earth and challenges her fellow alumni to think about how life’s journeys accumulate and how our actions shape outcomes.
2014
After earning degrees in psychology and Africana studies at Brooklyn College, Taleisia Edwards Babatunde completed an M.S. in business management and leadership at CUNY SPS and recently transitioned into health care. She earned her B.S.N. from the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in December and became licensed in New York in February, fulfilling her goal of providing direct care to her community.
2017
Rachel Lima earned an M.A. in Community Health Education and now manages chronic disease prevention programs as a senior leader at NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, applying her training to improve community health outcomes citywide.
2018
Aron Kontorovich has been named a Yamaha 40 Under 40 honoree, recognizing outstanding music educators under age 40. The award highlights his leadership, creativity, and impact in building and strengthening music education programs in his school community.
Nicole Palmer’s consulting and marketing firm, the Nicole Williams Collective, received a 2025 Global Recognition Award for excellence in service and mentoring within the entrepreneurial and small‑business community, earning perfect scores across all evaluation categories.
2019
Lovette Aneke, who earned her master’s in early childhood special education in 2019, continues to work with young children with developmental and learning needs, focusing particularly on supporting communication and social skills for children with autism. She is especially interested in incorporating musical activities to enhance engagement and participation.
2021
Jonathan Dalloo was recognized by the MSI Business Leadership Council for leadership, strategic excellence, and continuous‑improvement advocacy. A Brooklyn College graduate student from 2020 to 2021, he earned CCSP® and DCSP® certifications, completed FEMA’s Professional Development Series in 2023, and has been active with the Kingsbridge Historical Society since 2025, along with completing multiple professional programs during the COVID‑19 pandemic. As an undergraduate (2016–18), he received several scholarships and academic honors.
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