Alumni Oral History Project

Dan Cohen took his first course at Gratz in 1932. He’s been going to Gratz ever since. If Gratz College needed a poster child for lifelong Jewish learning, Dan Cohen would fit the bill.

Hillel Kolodner, of Haifa, Israel, graduated from Gratz High School in 1973. He earned a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT, and is a senior researcher at IBM Research in Haifa. He is married and has two sons. About his Gratz education, he said, “I had a large passive Hebrew vocabulary when I came to live in Israel in 1976. Soon after, I was speaking fluently and reading the Hebrew paper, and, somewhat later, Hebrew literature.”

Zachary Schaffer’s dream job was working with a political campaign. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Schaffer earned a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and political science from the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated early in December 2015, just as the 2016 presidential election was heating up.

Israel is near and dear to my heart. My Gratz education laid the foundation to my quest in learning about Judaism, the Jewish people and Israel.

Talli Dippold, Associate Director of the Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice at Queens University of Charlotte, was just elected to the board of directors of the Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) – an International Network for the Advancement of Holocaust Education, Remembrance, & Research. 

Susan Rochelle (Whitman), completed the Israel Ulpan Trip with Gratz in 1974. She is now Assistant Dean for Academic Planning at Berkeley Law School and has three grown sons.

I am currently an associate professor at the College of Western Idaho, in Nampa, Idaho. I teach Education, Computers and Study Skills.

A second-year student in Gratz’s Ed.D. program, Vinokor-Meinrath knew from a very young age that she wanted to work in the Jewish community...

"I have been actively using the knowledge acquired for my Master's degree in Jewish Music for the majority of my professional life..."

My Gratz education enabled me to teach Jewish history online at the University of Central Florida (UCF). I'm now in my 13th semester, teaching ancient Jewish history in the fall, mostly to Christian students, and Middle Ages to modern times in the spring.

After Confirmation at Adath Jeshurun in 1948, I enrolled in Gratz's College dept. in order to earn a Teacher's Diploma and to prepare for admission to The Jewish Theological Seminary...

I attended Gratz and graduated three different times, for high school, for a Masters, and for a doctorate in Jewish Education. I also worked in the high school and college for many years...

Lois Cohen (Kushner), Ph.D., is a 1957 graduate from Gratz.

Linda Ivker, of Bay Harbor Island, Florida, graduated from Gratz High School in 1969. A retired RN, she said this of her experience at Gratz: “I loved learning history and culture. I loved my Yiddish class. I retain a lifelong interest in Yiddish.”

Jules Spotts, of New York City, is a 1957 graduate from Gratz.

Judi Pogachefsky (Adelman), of Bensalem, PA, graduated from Hebrew High School in 1977.

Joel Hoffman is a 1996 graduate of the Master of Arts in Jewish Education.

Joanne Glassoff (Ginn), of Tom's River, N.J., graduated from Gratz High School in 1980.

Jennifer Boyer-Switala is an outstanding student in the Ph.D. program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. In 2015, Jennifer graduated from Gratz College with high honors and was class valedictorian, earning her master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Jacob Sztokman manages his career from two continents and three time zones. The 49-year-old father of four lives in Modiin, Israel, but runs a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that cares for women and children in the slums of India.

Heidi Omlor can trace her interest in Holocaust studies to elementary school. She was 12 when an English teacher assigned her class to read Corrie ten Boom’s autobiographical book The Hiding Place.

Elizabeth Christy had a green thumb and a penchant for teaching, but the job of her dreams seemed to be just beyond her reach.

Brendan Horan was still a student when he decided he wanted to become a teacher.