Alfred Sonnenstrahl and Steve Brenner, who has long time track record in telecommunications industry, produced and directed a video presentation which was shown during an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TDI).
Titled “Lifeline for Deaf People”, the video marks break throughs in deaf telecommunications and TDI’s history and accomplishments.
Steve A. Brenner, past president of Washington Society of Jewish Deaf and former TDI board member edited the program. Brenner and Dr. Alan Hurwitz were among nine Honorary Chairs of the TDI anniversary event which was held October 25th at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel in Maryland.
More on these people – from TDI website:
Steve Brenner
Steve Brenner and his wife, Dot, took part in the early stages of the TTY movement in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Steve was one of the original TDI agents in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the state of Maryland. Now retired from over forty years with the US Department of Navy, and operating with Dot, Potomac Technology, a TTY and other accessibility products store in Rockville, MD, they have been loyal members of TDI since the late 1960’s.
Dr. Alan Hurwitz
Dr. Alan Hurwitz holds the unique distinction of serving in three highly visible national roles in the deaf and hard of hearing community, first as President of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), then as President of National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and last, as President of Gallaudet University. Under his leadership while at NTID and Gallaudet, both universities had highly collaborative partnerships with TDI in public policy and technology research and development. He and his wife, Vicki, took part in the early stages of the TTY movement first in the St. Louis, MO area and later in the Rochester, NY area. He also served on the TDI Board of Directors, playing a key role in guiding the Association with development of a long-term strategic plan for its day-to-day operations.
These people were instrumental to making of the “Lifeline for Deaf People” video: top row: Alfred Sonnenstrahl and Phil Bravin, bottom row: Steve Brenner and Alan Hurwitz.
Source: Washington Society of Jewish Deaf
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.
