Additional Brandeis Sites: www.brandeis.edu www.brandeis.edu/now/ www.brandeis.edu/bnc/ Jewish Experience 
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Brandeis University News and Updates:BRANDEIS CHAPTER INFORMATION OFFICER (CIO) 2025-2026Phyllis Wilner pbwilner@gmail.com October 2026 In U.S. News & World Reports latest rankings of 422 institutions across the country Brandeis has jumped 10 places from last year's rankings . This latest report puts it in 59th place. They ranked it highly, #19 on the Most Innovative Schools. They also received high marks for its undergraduate teaching, undergraduate research and creative projects. It was ranked 36th among Private National Universities. Brandeis also was highly ranked for its access to the faculty and its student-faculty ratio. Brandeis University has raised $138 million this fiscal year. This is the highest amount ever in a single year. Take pride in this achievement for chapter played a strong role. September 2026 Labor Day has come and gone so of course it is back to school at Brandeis University. Some students have already decided on their majors while others have no idea or are open to change. Brandeis has many choices and some are new. One these new majors is Finance. It has always been available as a minor but now as a major. "Rooted in Brandeis" identity as a research university, the new major will be taught both as a quantitative science and a human discipline.” The aim is to train in ways that are rooted in the liberal arts and in practice. An interdisciplinary approach will help them explore how finance intersects with the law, government, computer science, engineering, environmental policy and the arts. They will have access to accelerated graduate programs, both abroad and here. Another new field of study is a minor in sports analytics. There has been a rise in the demand for this type of program. The global market for sport analytics was valued at nearly $6 billion last year and projected to keep rising. March 2026 Reading the winter issue of Brandeis Stories was exciting. There was more than one article I wanted to share with you. What really impressed me however, was the passion that came through these articles. How lucky are those who study under people who love what they are doing! I learned something new with each article. Did you know that the placenta is one massive cell? Did you know that the placenta is made by the fetus and not the mother so there are male placentas and female placenta. If unlayered and spread out a placenta is as large as a California king sheet. In a different article I learned how both professors and students are using state-of-the-art light microscopy to examine biological processes once shrouded in mystery. Andy Stone has been the manager of the Brandeis Light Microscopy Core Facility since 2023 He has equipped it with different types of "microscopes" and it has become one of the best equipped in the area. But also to quote him, “ Every instrument here represents good natured altruistic sharing of resources and expertise among its users. The facility has been a game changer in neuroscience says one the professors using it. He is studying the mouse brain in far greater clarity than before.The researchers are able to see exactly how certain neurons are connected which is leading to an understanding of how memories are made. Professor Seth Fraden is studying the structure of proteins and how they are made and assembled. Before these instruments were available scientists were looking through a hazy cloud. You knew something was there but not the details. "When you can act see clearly, you find structure where you didn’t suspect any structure. you get all kinds of surprises.," says Fraden. The numerous experiments have resulted in a deluge of data that is far too much for the average computer to handle. So , Andy Stone, recently installed a computer the size of a chest freezer connected to four high powered graphic which allows the researchers to not only capture stunning images but work with them. For a more in depth explanation I urge you to read the winter issue of Brandeis Stories. February 2026 The winter issue of Brandeis Stories feature the research projects of two professors and the research being done by several graduate students. Associate Professor of biology, Stephen Van Hooser, is exploring vision development in premature births. He is studying the impact of too early visual development. His study indicates that premature vision can interfere with how the brain sets up sight. His study "..could inform future conversations about protecting vision in premature babies." The research he has done on infant ferrets, suggests that during the third trimester important connections and pathways in the visual cortex are created. It is after a full term birth that newborns are exposed to visual scenes for the first time. Premies miss the development of those pathways. Chemistry professor Hao Xu has found a new way to build a critical surgical drug, heparin. Heparin is created from the intestines of millions of slaughtered pig. Global demand is high But there are potential dangerous side effects from using animals. He is attempting to build a chemically pure version. Currently relatively rare metals are used but he is developing a way to use different iron catalysts. Iron catalysts are far more common and therefore less expensive to use to manufacture different drugs. Driving Mrs. Roosevelt  Photo/Courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis Eleanor Roosevelt, a founding Brandeis Trustee, speaks with a student in 1951 as Brandeis' founding president, Abram Sachar, looks on. Story By Allen Secher '56 For five days in 1955, I was in the driver's seat and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sat by my side. This unlikely pairing was due to Brandeis, of course. One of my student jobs was working as a campus guide in the Public Relations Department. During graduation week, my responsibilities expanded to serving as a chauffeur for visiting dignitaries. A member of the university's Board of Trustees, Mrs. R, would be coming to campus for the Commencement festivities and a board meeting. As graduation approached, I begged, pleaded with and cajoled the PR director to let me be the one to drive her. With some hesitancy, he gave in. Day one arrived... ( TO READ FULL STORE - CLICK HERE!) Brandeis Story - READ HERE!
Tikkun Olam A pansecterian University that one day will embrace the concept of a school of law and social justice. Visit the University Website www.brandeis.edu If you would like to see what the beautiful Brandeis University campus looks like, please CLICK HERE ! Here's a link to the campus drone tour. https://youtu.be/aiiCRA3G5e0 The Brandeis Beginnings Tidbits: Brandeis University is the youngest private research university in the United States
and is the only nonsectarian college or university in the nation founded by the American Jewish Community Albert Einstein was one of the original planners of Brandeis University Eleanor Roosevelt was a member of the faculty, teaching a course on international
affairs that drew on her experience as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She was also the first Commencement speaker, for the class of 1952 The University's first professor of music and director of the School of Creative
Arts was composer Leonard Bernstein. While at Brandeis, Bernstein debuted Trouble in Tahiti on June 12, 1952 as part of the first Creative Arts Festival Notable alumni: Tony Goldwyn '82 actor, director, producer, starred in such
cinematic hits as: Ghost, Tarzan, The Pelican Brief and Kiss the Girls. His directorial works include:: Someone like you and A Walk on the Moon. Brandeis University counts among its alumni five Pulitzer Prize winners,
a Nobel laureate and several Emmy Award-winning actors, broadcasters and producers.
Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, Brandeis University is ranked in the top tier of universities in the country.
Founded in 1948 and named for the late Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme Court, it is the only
nonsectarian, Jewish-founded university in the country, known for its academic excellence and ideals of social justice.
At the same time as Brandeis' founding, eight women from Boston, all leaders in the community, were asked to help in
supporting this new university. They were given the task of building on the collection of 2,000 books in the Library,
which was housed in a converted horse stable. The dedication and perseverance of these women, who now called themselves
the National Women's Committee continues today, sixty years later, as the Brandeis National Committee. With over 70
chapters nationwide and over 39,000 members, BNC is one of the largest and most successful "friends of a library"
organizations in the world. Over the years, we have placed over one million books in the
FUN FACTS ~~ Brandeis was founded in 1948 as a non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jewish community. ~~ Brandeis was established on the site of the former Middlesex University. ~~ Brandeis University was named for Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who was the first Jewish Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ~~ Brandeis First President - Abram L. Sachar -1948-1968 ~~ Famous Professors who taught at Brandeis - Eleanor Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, Anita Hill ~~ Brandeis Motto - In Hebrew - Emet - In English it means - Truth even unto its innermost parts ~~ Brandeis Colors - Blue and White ~~ Nickname - Judges ~~ Mascot - Ollie the Owl - named for Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Justice Louis D. Brandeis - "Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy." |
Brandeis libraries, and raised over $100 million for Brandeis University and its libraries, scholarship and research.
Brandeis University has become one of the youngest private research universities, with ground-breaking exploration
in neurodegenerative and age-related diseases. 
It would be an extraordinary task to create a library that could barely compete, let alone compete well,
with the "old ivies" in New England. Brandeis was determined to be first rate. Remarkably,
eight women would answer this challenge. Their loyalty to this unproven university came from
a different breed of faith: both to the Jewish community at large, and to education itself.
They called themselves the National Women's Committee, and what they would work to achieve was no less than amazing.