Brandeis Magazine

Adam Cheyer, vice president of research and development at Samsung Mobile, and co-founder and developer of Apple’s Siri, was awarded the 2020 Project Voice Award for his work on Samsung Bixby, a personal voice assistant. He has also been named an inventor on a patent for Apple, awarded for “systems and methods for integrating third-party services with a digital assistant.” This patent extends through May 2033. Jodi Scher Gast has started a business, Blue Wolf Marketing, with her sister Tami. Michelle Leder, who relocated with her family to Manhattan after six years of living in Los Angeles, now lives in the same building as her senior-year Brandeis roommate, Karen Seaton Hyams. They frequently meet up to walk their dogs and get coffee. Pratyoush Onta is editing two books on the history of cultural politics in mid- to late-20th-century Nepal. Kenneth Osherow has opened his third Boston-area restaurant, Ghost Pepper Taco and Tequila Bar, in Savin Hill. Alan Reinach, lead physician in a six-person pulmonary and critical-care practice, has been elected president of the medical staff at Holy Redeemer Hospital beginning in January 2021. Wife Dana Perlman ’89 is the director of the Midwifery Institute at Jefferson (Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson University). Jay Ruderman, H’18, received the SAG-AFTRA Disability Awareness Award at the Media Access Awards in Beverly Hills, California. An advocate for disability inclusion in Hollywood, Jay has helped improve the portrayal of disabilities in entertainment and increase the number of actors with disabilities cast in screen roles. Rhona Silverbush is co-author of the “Terrific Toddler” series of picture books for toddlers, which are based on developmental psychology research. She also enjoys coaching actors in Shakespeare.