ALUMNI MAGAZINE FALL 2023 ISSUE
EXPLORE
ADMIRE
HONOR
INSPIRE
SUMMER INSTITUTES
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
MIRIAM SILVERMAN ,96
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
AND MORE!
FALL 2023 ISSUE / TABLE OF CONTENTS
02
FOUNDATION UPDATE
12
18
16
20
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
PLANNED GIVING PROFILE
04
SUMMER INSTITUTES
08
MEET MIRIAM SILVERMAN ,96
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
CLASS NOTES
22
IN MEMORIAM
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
WELCOME Dear Fellow Alumni, A Pulitzer Prize! A Tony! A Nobel Prize! What a notable past year for Bronx Science alumni. Robert Samuels '02, won the Pulitzer Prize for His Name is George Floyd; Miriam Silverman '96 won a Tony for Outstanding Feature in a Play for The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and Dr. Claudia Goldin '63 won the Nobel Prize in Economics for her groundbreaking career. These tremendous accomplishments speaks to the breadth of the talents and tremendous successes in our alumni community. Our students are nothing short of incredible as well. It warms my heart and inspires hope to see our 3,000 students in the halls, knowing they are forming unbreakable bonds with their classmates and growing as individuals every day. Their future is very bright and Bronx Science plays such a pivotal role in that. I feel so lucky that we get to be a part of this defining experience for our students—and that the Foundation gets to make their dreams reality. Best, Eleanor L. Coufos ‘99
/////////////////////////// LETTER FROM THE BRONX SCIENCE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT / 1
BRONX SCIENCE
FOUNDATION UPDATE The 2022–2023 school year was one of enormous growth for the Bronx Science Foundation. Thanks to the generosity of our passionate alumni, parents and friends, an historic $5 million was raised in honor of the school’s 85th anniversary, which culminated in a festive gala celebration at the American Museum of Natural History on June 1, 2023. In addition, the Stanley Manne ’52 Research Institute was completed in November 2022 and “officially” open for students in our 2023 Summer Institute. It was truly a banner year—and as Eleanor Coufos ’99 stated at the 85th Anniversary Gala, we are just getting started!
We look forward to keeping the momentum going by engaging with even more of our accomplished and invigorated alumni and parents, with the goal of maximizing the resources and opportunities available to Bronx Science students. We hope that all those dedicated to preserving the legacy of our school will consider gifting their time, talent and/or treasure to any of the key initiatives below: The Stanley Manne ’52 Research Institute: Students from Bronx Science and our partner schools have officially begun putting our brand new, fully equipped 10,000 square foot facility to good use, and ongoing investment in personnel, equipment and programming is needed to maximize the potential of this incredible space. Robotics, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence: To meet the burgeoning need to keep our students at the cutting edge in these rapidly advancing areas, we plan to invest through our IDEAS Initiative in new facilities, summer institutes, advanced coursework and experiential learning opportunities.
2 / BRONX SCIENCE FOUNDATION UPDATE ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
E
Entrepreneurship: The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well within our ambitious community, which is why we aim to establish Bronx Science as a best-in-class entrepreneurial hub for students and alumni through mini-courses and workshops, business plan competitions, incubators, co-working spaces and opportunities for alumni to invest, mentor and support other Bronx Science businesses. Speech & Debate Team: Our team is ranked #1 in the country and has had tremendous success for more than 50 years. We are looking to create a permanent funding source for the team to invest in coaches, tournament fees, travel costs and more. Arts: We are committed to providing our students with a well-rounded education for their personal and professional benefit by underwriting arts courses and extracurriculars and providing students with opportunities to immerse themselves in New York’s museums, theater, music, dance and more. Leadership: We aspire to cultivate the next generation of leaders by implementing a leadership development program which would give our bright students the chance to gain experience in “soft skills”, such as managing teams, collaborating, problem-solving and honing their communication skills, that are critical to success.
College & Career Programs: Our students, many of whom are first-generation Americans blazing new trails for their families, need a hand to put together the skill sets they have gained at Bronx Science to flourish in college and their careers. As the college process becomes more opaque each year, we will increase application prep offerings, recruit more alumni mentors and campus liaisons and expand the breadth and depth of our relationships with admissions offices. We will also help our students gain exposure to an array of career paths, starting with our annual Career Symposium and growing with alumni-sponsored internships, mentorships, job-shadowing programs and site visits.
As you can see, we have lofty goals for what we can make possible for Bronx Science students – but none of it is possible without the generous support of our alumni and friends. To learn more about ways to support these efforts, contact the Foundation office at 718.817.7800 or foundation@bxscience.edu.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// BRONX SCIENCE FOUNDATION UPDATE / 3
SUMMER INSTITUTES ARTICLE BY LEXI CARR ’22, KAITLYN YOUN ’23, AND ANNA KOONTZ ’25
The Bronx Science Foundation sponsored eight Summer Institutes in 2023. These completely free enrichment programs enable Bronx Science students to explore areas of interest in a hands-on way, connect with fascinating alumni, and develop new academic and professional passions.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The Artificial Intelligence Pre-Internship program gave students the chance to explore careers in AI. In this cohort-based program, students worked in teams of five on a project similar to real-world situations, applying artificial intelligence concepts while learning technical and professional skills. Students applied techniques from the field of natural language processing in order to draw business insights from large samples of either tweets or complaints to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau about banks. Students attended lectures and met with mentors from Citi in order to learn the skills they needed to complete the projects, which generally included data pre-processing, topic modeling, and classification or sentiment analysis. “I am sincerely grateful to the Bronx Science Foundation, Aptitude, and Citi for creating this amazing program,” reflected Sebastian Merkatz ’25.
4 / SUMMER INSTITUTES /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ARTS INSTITUTE The Arts Institute took advantage of New York’s many cultural sites, exhibits, and performances that are only a subway ride away. Students visited historical sites such as the Morgan Library and St. John the Divine Cathedral, and explored museums like the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Students also had the opportunity to see several shows, including Camelot, Philobolus, and the musical SIX. “I feel like I have grown to appreciate the city I live in more by experiencing the art around me,” said Julian Wilson ’25. “I know that I will be coming back to many of these locations we explored in the future!”
ENTREPRENEURSHIP LAB Students in the Entrepreneurship Lab worked on perfecting their business ideas throughout the course. They formed five teams and competed for funding through various challenges such as presenting their business plans, prototypes, and social media. Each team’s business focused on a different aspect of life that many highschoolers struggle with today—for example, mental health, procrastination, screen addiction, staying fit, and finding internship opportunities. “What excited me was being able to see my initial idea slowly become a reality at the end of the course,” said Darren Lin ’26. With the guidance of numerous alumni guest speakers, our students successfully achieved their entrepreneurial dreams.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SUMMER INSTITUTES / 5
MEDIA INSTITUTE In the first year of Bronx Science’s Summer Media institute, students worked on their own projects and met with a variety of alumni who work in the entertainment and media industries. Students created podcasts and screenplays that covered a variety of topics of their choosing throughout the program to share with their peers. In order to connect with even more Bronx Science alumni, the institute took a trip to Los Angeles in addition to trips taken to entertainment hubs throughout New York City. “Listening to the alumni and their experiences made me motivated and excited to maybe pursue a career in the media industry,” said Sora Toji ’26. By the end of the program, students had not only heard several stories of first-hand experiences working in media but had also developed their own pieces of media to add to their portfolios.
CELL AND MOLECULAR STUDIES + ANIMAL BEHAVIOR In the cellular and molecular biology section of the summer research program, students learned about the nature of science, methods of scientific inquiry, and the application of scientific information in society. Students completed independent and collaborative research projects wherein they designed and executed experiments studying different types of organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, worms, and water bugs. Some of the projects examined the role of bacterial biofilms in antimicrobial resistance, for example, or the regeneration of the flatworm Planaria under different lab conditions. “My time at the research institute taught me lab skills, life skills, and the handling of specialized equipment,” said Erik Huang ’26. “What I valued most, however, were the times when I messed up… Through these situations, I have learned to have resilience in finding solutions.”
6 / SUMMER INSTITUTES /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ROBOTICS INSTITUTE During the Robotics Institute, students designed, engineered, and built their own robots. Throughout this, students gained experience not only with coding and using industrial tools but with working together as well. “I learned how to collaborate with my peers, some of them far more experienced than me, without being afraid of being wrong,” said Propita Biswas ’25. In addition, guest speakers inspired the students by sharing their journeys from high school to a career in engineering. “This helped me realize which field of engineering I want to pursue,” said Arnob Sarker ’25. “I learned a lot… [and] I really enjoyed my peers and mentors who gave great advice both in and out of robotics.”
PROGRAMMING INSTITUTE Students in the Programming Institute learn the basics of programming in Python. They process large amounts of data by using the built-in data structures in the language as well as commonly used packages. Some students begin the course with no background in computer science and after a curriculum of readings, video lessons, games, tests, and projects, are able to complete a data visualization project by summer's end. "I felt a true sense of accomplishment when I handed [my first project] in and passed, all through my own work," said Abigail Lee '26. "The euphoria I felt when the code would work was absolutely unmatched."
A heartfelt thank you to our alumni, as they play a critical role in making these free summer enrichment programs possible. Alumni serve as guest speakers, office hosts, mentors, and more. If you are interested in volunteering with one of next year’s Summer Institutes, please contact the Foundation team at 718.817.7800 or foundation@bxscience.edu.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SUMMER INSTITUTES / 7
, MIRIAM SILVERMAN 96
TAKES CENTER STAGE
ARTICLE BY ANNA KOONTZ ’25 In 1996, a young woman graduated from Bronx Science with the plan to become an East Asian Studies major at Brown University. Twenty-seven years later, in June 2023, that same woman won a Tony for best featured actress in a play. These two events may seem strangely unrelated, almost from completely different lives. But Miriam Silverman '96, with her buoyant personality and passion for both theater and learning, has always been adventurous and open to exploring new things. From her birth (televised live on “Good Morning America”) to her recent Tony award-winning performance in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Silverman’s life has spanned three continents and numerous interests. What has stayed constant, however, is her love of acting, desire to connect with others, and commitment to what she values.
8 / MEET MIRIAM SILVERMAN
A WELL-ROUNDED STUDENT From a young age, Silverman was always interested in the performing arts. As a kid, she played piano, frequently watched plays, and performed in her middle school production of Grease. However, she appreciated academics just as much, a value that contributed to her decision to choose Bronx Science over LaGuardia High School’s acting program. At Bronx Science, Silverman played stopper and sweeper on the girls’ varsity soccer team all four years and enjoyed specialized classes such as Aerodynamic Technology, Forensics, and Constitutional Law (the latter of which inspired her to consider becoming a lawyer). There was no drama department at the time, so she joined the Speech & Debate team and competed in Duo Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation, both of which involved acting skills. And in her junior year, Silverman “stumbled into taking Chinese”—a moment that would “pave the way for my degree in college.” Like many students then and now, Silverman commuted on the D train to school with a group of friends. When her schedule had first period free, she decided to fill it with a class and still travel with her
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
friends instead of sleeping in. She went to the language office and asked if there were any beginning classes she could join—ideally a romance language, to build off her prior Spanish studies. The only available class was Chinese. “My first reaction was, ‘Oh no, no, it’s okay,” Silverman remembered, “But whoever it was in the office at the time said, ‘Just go to a class, try it out.’” Silverman did, and was “totally hooked” after a single period. She continued studying Chinese throughout her time at Bronx Science and, later on, at Brown. In college, Silverman was an East Asian Studies major, but still a theater kid at heart. Flexible scheduling and numerous opportunities allowed her to pursue both her passions, from taking a gap year in Hong Kong to performing in school plays and taking additional drama classes. It wasn’t until graduate school at Brown that Silverman fully committed herself to acting, earning a Master in Fine Arts of Acting. She later trained with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
AN INSPIRING PERFORMANCE In 2016, Silverman did her first production of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. The play takes place in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, focusing on Sidney Brustein and his wife Iris’ struggles with their marriage, occupations, and sense of purpose in life. Throughout it all, the play touches on an almost overwhelming number of political and social issues from bohemian culture to sex work to bossism. Silverman performed as Mavis, Iris’ pretentious older sister. The Sign was Lorraine Hansberry’s second and last play; she died shortly after its completion at the age of 34. Like most Bronx Science students, Silverman had read Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun as a high schooler, but had never encountered this lesser-known work by the same playwright before. “It’s really brilliant, and yet we were approaching it like a new play because people don’t know it,” Silverman said. “It was really fulfilling to do that, and exhilarating to bring it to life.”
“
It was really fulfilling ... and exhilarating to bring it to life.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// MEET MIRIAM SILVERMAN / 9
Seven years later, Silverman got the opportunity to do the play again at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), acting as the same character but with an entirely different cast and director, Anne Kaufman. “Being seven years older, having two kids instead of one, just having more years of experience and wisdom definitely brought some different elements of [Mavis] to life,” Silverman reflected. “I think I understood her in a deeper way, returning to her.” Another new part of this production was working with an Equity Diversity Inclusion coach, who walked the cast through all the aggressions in the play. Much of this hate comes from Mavis, who is, to put it simply, an antisemitic, homophobic, racist bigot. Yet when I asked Silverman, who is Jewish and most certainly not homophobic or racist, how it felt to play someone so radically offensive, she responded immediately with three enthusiastic words: “It was great!”
Silverman spoke of the importance of giving Mavis, flawed as she was, humanity —“to not judge her, to not make fun of her, and to do justice to the play that Lorraine Hansberry wrote.” Mavis is introduced in the first act as two dimensional: a conceited relative who feels superior to everyone else. But when she returns during the second act, Mavis is revealed to be a complicated character with a more nuanced background than anyone in the play or audience would have expected. This is done not to justify her bigotry but to give her depth as a person and demonstrate that under the surface, people can be different than assumed. “It’s so brilliant because only because you embody it fully, and you make [Mavis] a real person, does the audience go on the journey with her and feel for her,” said Silverman.
Bronx Science students visiting Miriam Silverman’s production.
10 / MEET MIRIAM SILVERMAN ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
AN AWARD-WINNING STAR Embracing Mavis despite her many faults was partially what made Silverman’s acting stand out so strongly; while the play was running at BAM, a New York Times review raved that Silverman “steals every scene she’s in.” The BAM production closed at the end of March 2023—the set was even dismantled and thrown out—but stars aligned and the show transferred to Broadway a few weeks later, where it opened the day of the Tony eligibility cutoff. “The way it all happened was so unexpected… It was suddenly like, we were on Broadway, the nominations came out a week later, and I was lucky enough to be nominated. And I really thought that was going to be it.” In fact, on the day of the awards ceremony, Silverman was most focused on the fact that she had to miss her show. This was a “big sacrifice that I was not very happy about,” she emphasized. However, she ended up appreciating having relaxed time to prepare, as nominees are supposed to arrive hours before the start of the ceremony. By the end of the night she was holding her award for best featured actress in a play—“totally a thrill of a lifetime.” Looking forward, the Tony gave Silverman more exposure within the industry; she has since then received many offers to audition for “higher level” TV and film projects. “That will probably be the direction I move in even though I really love theater,” she said.
Silverman is hoping that the award can bring her more opportunities on Broadway as well. When she’s not acting, Silverman juggles her time between teaching at NYU Tisch and taking care of her two children—a balancing act that is practically impossible to perfect. But no matter where life takes her next, Silverman will always continue her passion for storytelling and connection. To her, acting isn’t about the glory of the spotlight but the sense of community with the audience: “everyone’s breathing the same air and hearing the same story and being moved.” And in a single theater, no matter the size, “the idea that we can all be gathering together and be telling a story feels very powerful, very incredibly human.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// MEET MIRIAM SILVERMAN / 11
SILVERMAN
REVISITING OUR
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM ARTICLE BY HANNAH NADLER ‘23 AND ALYSSA SHORE ‘23
HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
THE THREE GALLERIES
Founded in 1978 by legendary social studies teacher Stuart Elenko, the Bronx Science Holocaust Museum has served as a pillar for educating students on discrimination and prejudice for decades. Having began in the back of Mr. Elenko’s classroom, then moving to the microfilm room of the library with few artifacts, the museum now occupies 1,000 square feet in the basement thanks to generous donations by the Foundation. It holds nearly 900 artifacts across three galleries that have been accumulated through alumni donations, local resident donations and auctions and garage sales, funded by bagel sales that Mr. Elenko’s class used to organize. The museum also includes a classroom for the Holocaust Studies class, which meets everyday to practice giving tours of the museum, to discuss recent acts of anti-Semitism and other acts of hatred towards certain groups throughout history, and to hear from and interview survivors and other Holocaust experts. This class is currently taught by Elizabeth MacEnulty.
The first gallery begins with anti-Semitic propaganda from before and during the Nazi party formation. There is a stark contrast between the anti-Semitic tabloids, Dur Stürmer by Julius Streicher, on the side wall of the photo above, and the romanticized photo of the SS soldier on the back wall of this photo.
12 / HOLOCAUST MUSEUM /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The first gallery also reveals the first legal action against Jewish people in Germany, which were the Nuremberg Laws mandating that all Jews wear a yellow star, prohibiting Jews to be doctors, lawyers and teachers, and, as seen in the photo below, forcing Jewish men to change their middle names to Israel and Jewish women to change their middle names to Sara, stripping Jews of their individuality. Lastly, the first legal act of violence against Jews, Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, is discussed in this gallery. This violence destroyed many Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues and the Nazis ended up punishing the Jewish people for this destruction, forcing many to flee Germany.
This artifact outlines the story of the Kaufmann family whose fascinating immigration journey began in Germany, then proceeded to London, and then later to Mexico via Cuba. This immigration pattern by European Jews to Latin America was very prominent at the time and a big contributor to the Jewish Diaspora.
The second gallery focuses on Nazi expansion abroad, after the Nazi consolidation in Germany explained in gallery one. The large map on the floor of this gallery serves as a visual representation of how the Nazis gained power in countries throughout Europe. Through appeasement and annexations, gallery two demonstrates how Hitler and the Nazis were able to gain power so quickly. On the back wall of this gallery, there are outfits from SS soldiers and Jewish prisoners from different points of the Nazi reign. Gallery two ends with discussing Einsatzgruppen which were the mobile killing squads that killed two of the six million Jews that died during the Holocaust. Einsatzgruppen was only stopped being used as it was an inefficient allocation of resources while the Germans also began fighting World War II.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// HOLOCAUST MUSEUM / 13
Gallery three outlines the ‘Final Solution’ that was carried out through ghettos, transitory camps, and concentration camps, as the mobile killing squads were not deemed as effective for the Nazis. There are several artifacts from different concentration camps, like a tank of Zyklon B gas, the rat poison that was used in gas chambers to kill many innocent people. This is one example of the collaborations that gallery
three highlights in demonstrating that the Nazis could not have done this alonethey needed help from Zyklon B, railroad companies, and even Vichy France as a nation. This collaboration aspect of this gallery is very important while giving the tour as we want to make sure that Bronx Science students use their intelligence for good, unlike what all of these smart people did in collaboration with the Nazis.
14 / HOLOCAUST MUSEUM /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
After discussing the end of World War II and the liberation of concentration camps, this gallery goes into detail about the post-war efforts. Many concentration camps were turned into displaced persons camps, where, for example, the below Torah cover from Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp was found. Though it is tattered, it has been through so much and it really demonstrates how Jewish culture was withheld through all the hatred against them during the Holocaust.
This gallery also holds the transcript from the Eichmann Trials, where survivors’ testimonies were recorded. It was the first time that the world had heard the tragedies of the Holocaust as the trials were televised.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING In addition to the tours and class discussions, the Foundation gives many opportunities to the students of the Holocaust Studies class. For example, a trip for the class to a preview of Parade, the Broadway show about Leo Frank’s story. This was an incredible opportunity for all of the students, and it was many students’ first time at a Broadway performance. Many alumni also offer their connections, or themselves, to have the students hear first hand experiences from Holocaust survivors and other experts.
Whether it’s part of a return trip to campus or specifically to visit the Museum, we always welcome alumni to explore and experience this historic collection firsthand.
The final piece that is shown on every tour is the book to the right that has the word Jew written six million times in it, for all the lives that were lost. It is extremely difficult to grasp that huge number, so that book gives perspective to all students and visitors. Each page is approximately one Bronx Science population.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// HOLOCAUST MUSEUM / 15
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: ,
ISHI METKAR 12 ARTICLE BY FAIRUZ OMAR RAYA ̓ 23 When one thinks of Bronx Science, young scientists and innovators in green caps and gowns likely come to mind. But what about our liberal arts students? Ishi Metkar ‘12, a self-described “nerdy kid” who huddled over Petri dishes over the course of her high school career, is now making her mark in the entertainment industry as a producer. Metkar immigrated to the US from Mumbai, India, when she was eight years old. When she got into Bronx Science, her family moved to the Bronx to support her high school career. During her time there, she was a Girls Track Team manager and a committed member of the Girls Gymnastics team. In her senior year, she and her gymnastics team won second place at the City Championships. Additionally, Metkar was in the Science Research program for four years, where she conducted scientific research throughout high school. After graduating high school, Metkar attended Washington University in St. Louis in the College of Arts and Sciences. Being so far away from home, she chose a steady path of studying Finance and majoring in business—but kept one foot in the world where she grew more passionate by minoring in film. This allowed her to focus on keeping herself afloat and living
16 / ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
independently, yet also following the true interests of her heart. During her time at Washington University, she worked on short films with her friends and helped them produce many of their small works. She also worked on a documentary to familiarize herself with filmmaking. She graduated from Washington University in 2016 and worked at Capital One as an analyst until she began seeking opportunities in the entertainment world. Metkar worked with Disney and Freeform and then Onyx, a network that focuses on making shows created by people of color. She then leveraged her hard-earned connections to pursue opportunities with Marvel Studios. Metkar became a junior producer for Marvel in 2022. Her work spans from before the shoots to post-production and all the needs of the shoot in between. She has responsibilities such as reviewing the projects’ scripts, ideas, art department, production designers, costumes, props, and stunts. She makes sure all the behind-the-scenes responsibilities go off without a hitch. “It’s a lot of communication. Like making sure that what my boss and our showrunner
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
wanted was being communicated to the departments and that they were executing it,” Metkar explained. She makes sure that the history of certain characters is researched so the characters can be brought to fruition. In post-production, she works with the marketing team to help advertise the project better to ensure that any merchandise or partnership stays creatively true to the show or movie. Metkar is currently working on several projects with Marvel Studios, such as ‘The Marvels’ due to release in November 2023, and ‘Agatha’ launching soon on the streaming service Disney+. After all these experiences working in the film industry, Metkar has realized how much she loves the creative process and wants to show-run one day. She’s also working on her own creative project at the moment.
roles you value with limited experience. That connection to and appreciation for Bronx Science is something Metkar continues to foster today. This past summer, the Alumni Foundation organized an event to shine a spotlight on careers and networking in the media sector. Metkar joined fellow alumni in a panel discussion about their careers for current Bronx Science students who had traveled to Los Angeles for the event as part of their Summer Institute. When asked what Metkar found the most rewarding about her career, she says, “You work with so many different kinds of artists daily; it is science and art combined in many different ways. And to be at the center of that with the people making the calls and the decisions and having the vision to take all of
Metkar attributes her skill in the entertainment industry to her time at Bronx Science. She reminisces about the rigorous coursework, her responsibilities across multiple extracurricular responsibilities, and the competitive nature of the school as critical lessons in the importance of hard work. “I was really used to being super busy,” she recalls. “One of the big differentiating factors in this industry is how hard you’re willing to work.” She remembers her peers the most, how ambitious and curious they were. She points out her skill of knowing how to ask questions or what questions to ask in her high school career, pointing out that the skill of knowing how to ask or what questions to ask is difficult. And that skill can help you land
ISHI METKAR ’12
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT / 17
PLANNED GIVING: A CONVERSATION WITH
BOB GRUBIN ’77
ARTICLE BY FAIRUZ OMAR RAYA ̓ 23 An innovative spirit, critical thinking skills and appreciation for education: these skills and values nurtured at Bronx Science have made a profound impact on the life of Robert “Bob” Grubin since he graduated in 1977. Bob launched his post-college career in finance in 1984, before making a pivot with a fellow alumnus to create a software package that tackled inefficiencies in the nascent stock derivatives market. He credits the Bronx Science experience that he and his partner shared with the idea for this business, as their time at Science taught them to look at things in a variety of creative ways to find a solution to a problem. This initiative later dovetailed into his career managing investment funds. Bob’s high school experience molded him into a critical thinker, an innovative problem solver and a dedicated supporter of education—especially at Bronx Science. He has contributed his insights and expertise to the school as a volunteer
and board member for years and played a notable role in merging the once separate entities of the Alumni Association and the Alumni Endowment Fund into the Bronx Science Foundation. Most recently, Bob worked closely with Stanley Manne ’52 to establish the Stanley Manne ’52 Research Institute, an incredible 10,000 square foot building with three professional-grade labs which opened for student use in Summer 2023. Bob is also among the most generous donors to Bronx Science as a member of the Atomic 100 leadership society (his name can be found on the element Uranium on the Periodic Table of Donors!) and the Creston Avenue Society for those who have made a planned gift to the school. He notes that “Kids that attend Science come from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds, but what makes everyone equal coming out [into the world] is their education. So if we can provide that to the five corners of New York City, we have to do what we can.” With that in mind, Bob
18 / PLANNED GIVING PROFILE ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
and his wife Stella are committed to paying it forward ensuring that students at Bronx Science and beyond have access to educational opportunities, and they support everything from early childhood education programs for Hispanic students across the city and Westchester to scholarships for students attending Catholic school.
“ Education is the
greatest equalizer in life.
Bob firmly believes that “Education is the greatest equalizer in life”, and that an exceptional education can break down barriers and elevate individuals from diverse backgrounds. With that guiding principle in mind, he has made arrangements to have the bulk of his final estate support education— especially at Bronx Science. We are deeply grateful to Bob, and all members of the Creston Avenue Society, for believing in the transformative power of a Bronx Science education and leaving a lasting legacy through a planned gift.
To learn more about the Creston Avenue Society, or how you can support Bronx Science with your own planned gift, please contact the Foundation office at 718.817.7800 or foundation@bxscience.edu.
Bob Grubin helping Stanley Manne put on a labcoat.
Bob and Stella Grubin at an Alumni Foundation event.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////= PLANNED GIVING PROFILE / 19
CLASS NOTES ALUMNI IN THE NEWS Bencie Woll ’66, the first professor of sign language in the United Kingdom, has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honors List for services to Higher Education and Deaf People.
Claudia Goldin ’63, was recently recognized with the Nobel Prize in Economics. A trailblazer throughout her career, Goldin is currently the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and the first woman to be offered tenure in Harvard’s Economics department (1989). The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences awarded Goldin’s research towards the world’s understanding of gender gaps in labor force participation and earnings. Goldin is only the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics and the first to be recognized to be awarded as an individual, not as part of a group. She is now the NINTH Bronx Science alum to win the Nobel Prize and the first to do so in Economics.
Darlene Yee-Melichar ’76, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. YeeMelichar has served as a Professor at San Francisco State University since 1990. Please find Yee-Melichar’s official bio here. The Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd welcomed Daniel Yearwood ’13 to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, taking over the role of Anthony from Jordan Fisher.
RECONNECTING WITH CLASSMATES Rubin Battino ’49 shares, “I am 92 years old now and graduated from Bronx Science in January 1949. Would you kindly put a notice in your next newsletter asking anyone who was in that class with me to get in touch with me? My Email address is rubin.battino@wright.edu. For information about what I have been doing since then please see my website (www.rubinbattino.com)”
20 / CLASS NOTES //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ALUMNI AUTHORS In his new memoir, The Controversialist, Martin Peretz ’55 offers a propulsive and fascinating account of his career. The piece centers on his formative years growing up in the Bronx, the child of Jewish parents who had numerous relations in eastern Europe and were murdered by the Nazis. His journey was covered by Washington Monthly. Dr. Nancy L. Segal ’73 is an American evolutionary psychologist and behavioral geneticist, specializing in the study of twins. Dr. Segal has published two new books about twins. “The Twin Children of the Holocaust,” is an annotated collection of original, informative, and moving photographs of the twins who survived the brutal medical experiments conducted at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp (1943-1945). “Gay Fathers, Twin Sons,” tells the story of Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks who conceived fraternal twins with a Canadian surrogate by means of egg and sperm donation. You can find the details of all books authored by Dr. Segal on drnancysegaltwins.org. Inside Press Publisher and Editor Grace Bennett ’78 had interviewed Hillary Clinton shortly before marching the 2006 Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua. “I’ve been fortunate to be interviewed by Grace…She and her talented freelance staff make sure that no Chappaqua story, small or large, goes unnoticed,” shared Hillary Clinton. The interview is now published on the Inside Press website, which you can find here. Jennifer Pahlka ’87 has recently published her new book, Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better. In the piece, Pahlka examines how our government operates—and sometimes fails to. She is President Obama’s former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// CLASS NOTES / 21
IN MEMORIAM We are saddened to share news that the following Bronx Science alumni have passed away. Our thoughts are with their friends and loved ones.
Robert Bernstein ’43
Gerald Grumet ’55
Rudi Leparik ’43
Harold Kaplan ’55
Arthur Attanasio ’44
George Gong ’56
Jay Zemel ’45
Frank Tuerkheimer ’56
Richard Finklestein ’46
Richard Wolin ’56
Allan Mirsky ’46
Evelyn Botkin ’57
Julius Archibald ’48
Gilbert Alicea, MD ’58
Fred Raphael ’48
Harvey Fabricant ’58
Marilyn Pearl ’49
Burton Golden ’58
Robert Sokoloski ’50
Cary Reinstein ’58
Robert Wolin ’50
Leonard Berger ’60
Jordan Davis ’51
Robert Zalosh ’61
Joel Greenberg ’51
Allan Goldman ’62
Adele Zuckerman ’51
Stephen Gayner ’65
Irving Kay ’52
Dena Hofkosh ‘71
Phyllis Kott Levy ’52
Brad Jacobs ’78
Iris Delgado Newsom ‘54
Gary Bahadur ’91
Alfred Parsons Duncker ’55
Kazue Kobashi ’21
CLICK names above to view full obituaries
IN MEMORIAM / 22 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////