Amos Bloomberg, ’97:
Amos Bloomberg was the first graduate of the UR’s Brain & Cognitive Sciences (BCS)program, where he also helped build the department’s first website.
After graduation, he began work as a software engineer for both start-up companies and established tech firms. In the early 2000’s, Bloomberg decided to pursue a master’s degree at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
During grad school, he decided to get reinvolved with BCS, and began work as a teaching assistant for neuroscience classes. He continued to teach and work in technology consulting since then, and is now Clinical Assistant Professor of Computer Science at New York University, as well as Managing Consultant at Plastic Past LLC, a private interaction design firm.
In 2012, he returned to Rochester for the first time in 15 years only to be “amazed and humbled at how beautiful and interesting a city Rochester is.”
“In retrospect, [I] hold strong affection and respect for [my] alma mater and all local traditions,” he said.
Julia Cosse, ’08:
Julia Cosse is a graduate of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. While she was studying at UR, she was heavily involved in working at Todd Theatre doing lighting.
After her studies at UR, Cosse started a graduate program at Caltech and earned an MS in Aerospace Engineering. She also earned an equivalent master’s in Fluid Mechanics from Ecole Polytechnique in France through an exchange program and most recently finished her Ph.D. in Aeronautics from Caltech this year. She is working towards a faculty position and applying to many this fall. She also has a post-doc lined up starting in 2015 in Munich, Germany.
At the moment, she is on break and spent the last few months traveling around Southeast Asia. She says she is currently in Vietnam, but will be back in the US in mid-November to attend a conference and to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Adam Konowe, ’90:
Adam Konowe double majored in history and political science during his time at UR. While at the University, Konowe spent his time outside of class at WRUR (as an FM DJ and operations manager) and with the theatre community (Drama House, International Theatre Program, and Committee on the Performing Arts extracurricular group). He studied abroad at Keele University in Staffordshire, England during his junior year.
He attended American University after UR and earned an MA in public communication in 1991. He spent more than six years after that in broadcasting with C-SPAN, BizNet, The Business Channel, and PBS.
Today he is an adjunct professor of communication at American University, where he teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. He also serves as the faculty adviser for WVAU, just named the 2014 CMJ College Radio Award winner for best student-run, Internet-only radio station.
He is still strongly connected to Rochester, and works with UR Involved student recruitment, the History Alumni Advisory Committee, the International Theatre Program, and the Career Center.
He noted that the changes on campus since the time he studied here (new buildings and renovations on to old buildings) “incorporate a greater emphasis on collaborative learning and living.” He adds that “on a human level, I see even greater collegiality and diversity, but I’m proud that Rochester’s faculty, staff and students have always been ahead of their time when it comes to tolerance and inclusion.”
Barry Cohen, ’66:
Dr. Barry G. Cohen, received an AB degree from UR. During his time at Rochester, he studied history, and was involved in extracurriculars such as reporting for the Campus Times and being an elected member of the College Cabinet. His course of study in the liberal arts “was a major factor in selecting a career in higher education administration,” Cohen said. After Rochester, he joined and graduated with a joint degree in Higher Education Administration at Columbia University, holding both MBA from Columbia and an Ed.D. from Columbia Teachers College.
He currently works as a senior executive with “an extensive career providing financial and administrative leadership” in the field of education.
He has held many positions throughout his life, such as Vice President for Finance and CFO of Cedar Crest College, Keystone College, and Centenary College. He also serves as CEO of a regional charter school, and interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. Most recently, he served as interim Treasurer of Semester at Sea, a program in which students travel abroad and study courses related to their destinations and earn academic credit for their experience, at the University of Virginia.
He visited UR recently and noticed some new additions. “LeChase Hall is a great addition to the campus and sits where the Brain Research Center used to be when I was a student,” he said.
Cohen is now semiretired and enjoys hiking, biking, and kayaking.
Bradley Halpern, ’12:
Bradley Halpern is a graduate of the 2012 class, majoring in Computer Science and Political Science. During his time here, he was involved in SA Government – serving as SA President in 2012 – Campus Activities Board, Freshman Fellows, and R/C MERT. He said he is thankful for studying all sorts of subjects, such as International Relations, Math, Mechanical Engineering, Music Theory, Brain and Cognitive Science, and being curious about everything, because “it’s that curiosity that led me where I am, not any particular research I worked on or curriculum I studied.”
After graduation, he interned at the White House, which he described as “incredible.” He came back to do the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY), and through it he started the Student Leadership Institute at Rochester alongside RCCL. After graduating from the KEY program, he moved to Palo Alto to work for the Skoll Foundation – “an amazing opportunity that I could have never seen coming and from which I learned a ton through working with a myriad of fascinating people, all doing different things in different sectors.”
After leaving there, he traveled for a few months and found work at the GlobeMed National Office in Evanston, IL. “I get to put the solutions-oriented, process-driven learning from my engineering background to use every day, solving global problems and piecing together the big ideas,” he said. He currently works as an Executive Director at GlobeMed.
Even though he only left last year, he’s noticed a few updates around campus. “The entrance near Gleason is much nicer,” he observed, “and now there’s milkshakes in Wilson Commons… that’s an improvement.” He remarked that it was also great to see Rettner Hall and Brooks Crossing – “[I] worked on Rettner as a student, so it was really neat to see it come to fruition.”
Kanakam is a member of the class of 2017.
