Brandeis University

Rebekah LaFontant will graduate Sunday from Brandeis University. "It's kind of bittersweet," the New York City native said earlier this week. "Brandeis is a bubble - it shields you from the real world. Once I leave, I'll be a real adult. " But LaFontant, who had a double major in health policy and psychology, seems better-prepared than many other graduates. She plans to serve in Boston's City Year program before moving on to graduate school. Long-term, she wants to be a primary care physician and conduct clinical public health research.

Nicholson played through injuries Pat Nicholson is still in pain. His knees are sore and tender. His arm is tired. His back is suffering from a pair of compressed disks that forced him to spend more time in the trainer's room than in the weight room during the baseball season at Brandeis University. Three weeks after Nicholson played his last game for the Judges, his body is still a physical nightmare.   But no one — including the graduate of Walpole High, where he was a four-year varsity player for Bill Tompkins — seems surprised.

Brandeis University president Fred Lawrence will move to Waltham in July — and will become the only Brandeis president to live in the same city as the campus, according to university records. Lawrence and his wife, Kathy Lawrence, a professor in the university's English department, will move this summer from their Cambridge apartment to a unit on the second floor of the Watch Factory, the historic renovated building on Crescent Street along the Charles River. Lawrence will be the first of the eight Brandeis leaders to call Waltham home.

Rebekah LaFontant will graduate Sunday from Brandeis University. "It's kind of bittersweet," the New York City native said earlier this week. "Brandeis is a bubble - it shields you from the real world. Once I leave, I'll be a real adult. " But LaFontant, who had a double major in health policy and psychology, seems better-prepared than many other graduates. She plans to serve in Boston's City Year program before moving on to graduate school. Long-term, she wants to be a primary care physician and conduct clinical public health research.

Evelyn E. Handler, who was the first female president of Brandeis University and of the University of New Hampshire, died Friday afternoon after she was struck by a car while walking on a street in Bedford, N.H. Handler, 78, served as president of UNH from 1980 to 1983 before taking the same position at Brandeis, where she was president from 1983 to 1991. Handler was the only female president in the history of Brandeis, which was founded in 1948, according to its website. "On behalf of the entire Brandeis community, we extend our deepest sympathies to the Handler family,"...

Long before DNA entered the parlance of those outside science, Dr. Inga Mahler was uncovering its mysteries in the research laboratories of Brandeis University. "Inga loved the challenges of research," said Chandler Fulton, a biology professor emeritus at Brandeis, whose laboratory was one of several Dr. Mahler worked in while at the university. Dr. Mahler, whose family moved to the United States after fleeing Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany and Poland, died Nov. 12 in her Newton home of pancreatic cancer.

Nicholson played through injuries Pat Nicholson is still in pain. His knees are sore and tender. His arm is tired. His back is suffering from a pair of compressed disks that forced him to spend more time in the trainer's room than in the weight room during the baseball season at Brandeis University. Three weeks after Nicholson played his last game for the Judges, his body is still a physical nightmare.   But no one — including the graduate of Walpole High, where he was a four-year varsity player for Bill Tompkins —...

A weekly support group for parents is meeting from 7:15 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at Brandeis University. The free sessions are organized by Parents Helping Parents, a Watertown-based nonprofit that helps parents and caregivers navigate the at-times overwhelming job of raising children. The organization also operates a confidential 24-hour hotline for parents in crisis. Support groups are led by both parents and a volunteer facilitator, and often feature free child care. For the location of the Brandeis meeting or to reach the crisis line, call 800-632-8188 or visit www.parentshelpingparents.org.

MUSIC Newton: Guitarist Nadav Remez performs an intriguing combination of modern jazz, alternative rock and Jewish folk songs Sunday, 7:30 p.m., at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St. $18 to $160. 617-558-8100, www.bostonjewishmusicfestival.org. Waltham: "The Isle of Delos: Music of Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre" features soprano Janet Youngdahl and harpsichordist Vivian Montgomery in a performance Monday, 7:30 p.m., at Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Brandeis University, 415 South St. $15; $9 students.

Kindergarteners at the Boston-area Jewish Education Program work on art projects at Sunday school relating to the upcoming Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana. By Jaclyn Reiss, Town Correspondent Jon Muchin, a recent Brandeis University graduate, stands at ease in front of the assembled fifth graders, acoustic guitar slung around his striped sweater as he removes his clasped hands from behind his head and starts to clap. "Bo-Bo-Bo-Boker Tov!" music teacher Muchin sings emphatically to the group of roughly 20 kids, waiting eagerly for their response to...

Brandeis University president Fred Lawrence will move to Waltham in July — and will become the only Brandeis president to live in the same city as the campus, according to university records. Lawrence and his wife, Kathy Lawrence, a professor in the university's English department, will move this summer from their Cambridge apartment to a unit on the second floor of the Watch Factory, the historic renovated building on Crescent Street along the Charles River. Lawrence will be the first of the eight Brandeis leaders to call Waltham home.

For years, the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University has been restoring, archiving, and distributing essential films and footage — particularly historical Yiddish films — on Jewish life. Now it's time for the center to celebrate the film experience. The NCJF's 15th annual film festival running through April 29 ties all of the center's roles together as it presents 12 films, most of them area premieres, at three venues: the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the West Newton Cinema.

Porcaro lifts Judges to healthy start Her promising junior season on the diamond was derailed by a broken hand. Now healthy, Lauren Porcaro is putting together her best season for the Brandeis University softball team. Batting cleanup for the first time in her college career, the former Shrewsbury High standout is hitting .319, with six doubles, a triple, three homers, and 15 runs batted in, while playing a nearly flawless center field. The senior captain's play is a big reason the Judges are 15-9 overall, and winners of 10 of their last 11...

Two neuroscientists from Brandeis University have been awarded a major Canadian biomedical research award for their work on the biological clock of fruit flies. The researchers, neuroscience professor Michael Rosbash and emeritus biology professor Jeffrey C. Hall, discovered through a longstanding collaboration a group of genes that regulates fruit flies' body clocks. Those circadian rhythms are important because in humans as well as in fruit flies and other animals, they govern the timing of bodily functions, from hormone fluctuations, to wake and sleep cycles.

MUSIC Newton: Guitarist Nadav Remez performs an intriguing combination of modern jazz, alternative rock and Jewish folk songs Sunday, 7:30 p.m., at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St. $18 to $160. 617-558-8100, www.bostonjewishmusicfestival.org. Waltham: "The Isle of Delos: Music of Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre" features soprano Janet Youngdahl and harpsichordist Vivian Montgomery in a performance Monday, 7:30 p.m., at Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Brandeis University, 415 South St. $15; $9 students.

Four years ago, Brian Moore and three of his former teammates from the track & field squad at Brandeis University were pleasantly surprised at their performances at an alumni meet. "A bunch of us guys [around] 40 jumped in and did pretty well," said the 42-year-old Moore, a Newburyport resident. They joked that they should form their own masters age-group running club, deciding that "we'll never get a poker night because our wives will never let us do it," he added. "That turned into an every Tuesday night workout, and within a year we realized we were still pretty decent.

Two neuroscientists from Brandeis University have been awarded a major Canadian biomedical research award for their work on the biological clock of fruit flies. The researchers, neuroscience professor Michael Rosbash and emeritus biology professor Jeffrey C. Hall, discovered through a longstanding collaboration a group of genes that regulates fruit flies' body clocks. Those circadian rhythms are important because in humans as well as in fruit flies and other animals, they govern the timing of bodily functions, from hormone fluctuations, to wake and sleep cycles.

The son of a founding trustee of Brandeis University, Robert Shapiro was a member of the school's first graduating class and built a lifelong relationship with the institution. "Bob understood and was an articulate spokesperson concerning the values for which Brandeis stands," Malcolm Sherman, who chairs the university's board of trustees, said in a statement. "He was a significant contributor to the emotional and intellectual life of the university. " Mr. Shapiro, himself a longtime trustee and supporter of Brandeis, died of lung cancer Jan. 6 in his home in the Chestnut Hill...

A weekly support group for parents is meeting from 7:15 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at Brandeis University. The free sessions are organized by Parents Helping Parents, a Watertown-based nonprofit that helps parents and caregivers navigate the at-times overwhelming job of raising children. The organization also operates a confidential 24-hour hotline for parents in crisis. Support groups are led by both parents and a volunteer facilitator, and often feature free child care. For the location of the Brandeis meeting or to reach the crisis line, call 800-632-8188 or visit www.parentshelpingparents.org.