Alumni Profiles

Abrah Mintz Bessler, Ph.D.

Abrah Mintz Bessler was part of then Hebrew Academy’s first graduation class in 1984. She earned a B.A. in psychology from Queens College and received her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from New York University. She completed post-doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology at Columbia University and she currently maintains a private practice in New Jersey. She is an active member of AMIT and serves on her synagogue board of directors. In addition, she serves on the Education Committee of Yavneh Academy in Paramus, New Jersey, where her children attend school.

Todd Brody graduated from Hebrew Academy in 1986. He went on to earn a B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and graduated cum laude from Fordham University School of Law. He serves as partner in the New York office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a multi-national law firm. He is active in his synagogue and serves on several committees.

Ari Lipsky, M.D.

Ari Lipsky graduated from Robert M. Beren Academy in 1990. After a year in Israel, he earned a B.S. in chemistry at MIT, where he was inducted into the Sigma Xi Honor Society. He received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He received the Teacher of the Year Award in his first year teaching after residency at S. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. He is currently a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and works in the emergency room at Santa Monica UCLA. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in the UCLA School of Public health, where he has been inducted into Delta Omega. He lains regularly at his local synagogue and still makes time to lain and blow shofar for the Meyerland Minyan here in Houston.

Sara Jacobson, M.S.W.

Sara Jacobson graduated from Robert M. Beren Academy in 2000. After spending two years at Darchei Binah Women’s Seminary in Jerusalem, she majored in psychology and minored in Judaic studies at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. She received her M.S.W. from NYU’s School of Social Work and has worked both with adults with special needs and drug addition for the past four years.