Three generations strong

Brandeis Stories

Three generations strong

By Judy Jaeger
May 20, 2026

When Nili Fish-Bieler '26 walked the Commencement stage on May 17, she became the third generation Brandeisian in her family. Her father, Ron Fish '91, and her grandmother, Joy Fish '56, were on campus to experience Brandeis Commencement together.

A mathematics major, Nili made the most of her Brandeis years. She was active in Jewish life, was a leader in her a capella group, and was heavily involved in theater, including serving as a TA.

"I'm grateful that I was able to do a lot of different activities at Brandeis," she says.

Ron, who is Brandeis' associate director of the President's Task Force on Antisemitism, had a similar experience. "I was also very active. Brandeis was an amazing place to find all these amazing opportunities."

Joy attended Brandeis in the 1950s, not long after the university was founded, and she recalled a rich intellectual and academic life.

"It was small and new," she says. "Even though I was a freshman, I had the most prominent people in their fields as professors, because that's who Brandeis hired to get established and known."

Joy also traveled to Israel in her junior year, blazing the trail for future Brandeisians to study abroad.

Ron and Joy cheered on Nili as she crossed the stage to receive her diploma at Commencement.