Our Town

JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA has named MICHAEL E. BLIMES vice president for philanthropy. Blimes was most recently vice president for philanthropy at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. He founded and served for nearly three decades as chairman of the MIDAS Consulting Group, Inc., a full-service national… Read more »

BORIS KOZOLCHYK, president and director of the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, has been selected by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as its 2013 Legacy Award honoree. One of the world’s leading experts on the utilization of commercial law as a tool for economic development, Kozolchyk… Read more »

SUSAN CLAASSEN, artistic director of Invisible Theatre, will tour in “A Conversation with Edith Head” this fall. As “Edie,” the legendary Hollywood costume designer, Claassen also will emcee Tucson Fashion Week’s runway presentation on Oct. 18 at the Tucson Museum of Art, appearing with fashion designer Betsey Johnson. FRANK… Read more »

TANA JONES, director of development at the TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, has been honored with a 40 Under 40 award by the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Jones joined the JCC in March 2011. After receiving a scholarship from the local chapter of the… Read more »

Recent photographs by CY LEHRER will be on display at the Tucson International Airport Lower Link Gallery through Dec. 31. It will include works from four projects: “Digital Noir,” “More Postcards from the Strip,” “Non-Objective Abstraction Group” and “The Walls of Buenos Aires: Collage.” A reception will be held… Read more »

The TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA is one of five arts groups in the state of Arizona to receive the full amount of state grant money available for the 2014 fiscal year. The Arizona Commission on the Arts made the awards based on fiscal ingenuity, broad participation from the state’s residents… Read more »

ZACHARY COHEN received the Outstanding Master (President) award from AEPi International, a Jewish fraternity. Cohen, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, will graduate in June with a double major in history and political science. He is the son of Cantor Janece Cohen of Congregation Or Chadash and grandson… Read more »

GERALD LANKIN has been named Tucson office director at Helix House Internet Marketing Agency. Prior to joining Helix House, he was president of Baja Nueva Design and Decorating Studio in San Felipe, Mexico. He has more than 25 years of experience in the securities and stock exchange industry, including… Read more »

“Sunfish,” a musical with lyrics by Nogales, Ariz., native MICHAEL COOPER, won the top jury honor for musical theater production at the Daegu International Musical Festival in Korea. Cooper is the son of Liane and David Capin Cooper and grandson of Bette and Leonard Cooper and Joan and Alfred… Read more »

ALAN D. BEDRICK, M.D., professor and chief of neonatology and developmental biology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine department of pediatrics, has received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pennsylvania State University. It is the highest honor Penn State bestows upon an alumnus. Bedrick has volunteered for the… Read more »

JEFF BRIDGE, immediate past president of Congregation Bet Shalom, and his long-time business partner, Chef James Pastore, are the new owners of IT’S GREEK TO ME restaurant, located in Catalina, Ariz.  Bridge is also starting his 30th year of employment at Raytheon in Tucson.   ITZIK BECHER, founder of… Read more »

LEAH RICHTER, office manager of the ARIZONA JEWISH POST, is retiring after 36 years. She started with the newspaper, then known as the Arizona Post, under the editorship of Martha K. Rothman.       The Tucson Pima Arts Council presented its 2013 Lumies Arts & Business Awards June… Read more »

“The Complete Caregiver Support Guide” by ESTER LEUTENBERG and Carroll Morris received a Silver 2013 Benjamin Franklin Award in the category of psychology from the Independent Book Publishers Association at a ceremony in New York City on May 29. The book was published by Whole Person Associates. Leutenberg has… Read more »

PAMELA HEIMAN DUBIN, M.D., has been named care manager for SELECT Care Managers, a service of JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. Previously, Dubin practiced medicine for one and a half years and was a science officer with Weil Life­styles for seven years. She is a volunteer… Read more »

GILA SILVERMAN won a first place award from the Arizona Press Club for non-metro social issues reporting for her article in the Dec. 28, 2012 edition of the ARIZONA JEWISH POST, “Be kind: Ben’s Bells replace dreidel for Winterhaven Festival of Lights.”  The judge wrote, “This easily could have… Read more »

ARIZONA PUBLIC MEDIA reporters Mark Duggan and Fernanda Echavarri have won 2013 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, along with former AZPM employees Steve Shadley and Robert Rappaport. Two feature stories are in the running for the national Murrows. AZPM’s interim news director,… Read more »

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS will be honored as Woman of the Year by Emerge Arizona: Women Leaders for a Democratic Future at its annual event on Thursday, May 23 in Phoenix. The former Arizona congresswoman also received a Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation on May… Read more »

J. Edward Wright

The University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences announced that a new endowed professorship was named in honor of J. EDWARD WRIGHT, director of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies. Wright will himself hold the title of J. Edward Wright Professor of Judaic Studies beginning July 1.… Read more »

PATTIE MARTIN, M.Ed., has been named director of older adult services at JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES. She previously directed one of those services at JFCS, Select Care Managers.… Read more »

Esther Sternberg, M.D.

ESTHER M. STERNBERG, M.D. will give the keynote address at the University of Arizona Women’s Mental Health Symposium on Saturday, April 27 at the Westin La Paloma. Sternberg will speak on “Brain Immune Interactions: The Science of Health and Well-Being.” Sternberg is director of research for the UA Center… Read more »