Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends
Top thinkers and leaders share insights with campus community
February 6, 2026
How donations help extend learning beyond the classroom
Each year, Brandeis brings top leaders, thinkers, and artists to campus. The goal: to extend learning beyond the textbook and give students the opportunity to learn from and connect with influential voices.
During these visits, students hear directly from changemakers who have shaped their respective fields. For instance, this past fall Janet Yellen, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and former chair of the Federal Reserve, spoke to students about her career and the importance of economic education in crafting real-world solutions for the nation’s financial system. Students also had the chance to ask her questions.
An economist who helped rebuild the American economy after the 2008 financial crisis, Yellen chaired the Fed from 2014 to 2018 and served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 2021 to 2025. She was the first woman to hold both offices.
Also this past fall, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell spoke to a packed audience about the importance of public service. Campbell, a lawyer who previously served as president of the Boston City Council, became the first Black woman to be elected attorney general of Massachusetts in 2022. Her “fireside chat” was designed specifically to let students ask Campbell pointed questions, which addressed such issues as women’s rights and the weaponization of the legal system.
Next month Marla Feller, Ph.D., a professor of biological sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, will come to discuss her research. Feller’s work has been vital for understanding the origins of certain neurological birth defects and investigating potential therapies to restore vision in deteriorating retinas. Among her many honors and achievements, Feller is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Many campus visits like these are made possible thanks to gifts from alumni and friends. Yellen, for example, came to campus to celebrate the naming of the new Janet L. Yellen Distinguished Chair in Business in her honor. The chair was endowed by a generous gift from Barbara Clarke, MA ’91.
Campbell spoke as part of her role as the 2025 Justice Brandeis Practitioner-In-Residence, a program of the Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation (ENACT), which was founded with a generous gift from Judith Schnieder Weissberg and Norbert Weissberg P'89 in honor of her father.
Feller will come to campus as the 2026 John Lisman ’66 Memorial Lecture in Vision Science. Each year this endowment brings leading scholars in vision research to campus.
The generous support of alumni and friends will help continue this tradition of bringing trailblazers to campus, where students in turn can be inspired to become the next generation of leaders.