Jacob Riley-Wasserman (1990-2016) was a designer and artist. He grew up in Greenwich, New Jersey and studied painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 2008, he enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to study furniture design. While in his final year, he created a laser-cut spatula that featured the American flag, an homage to both the flags planted on the moon by NASA astronauts and to the tradition of the American backyard barbecue. He submitted the prototype to NYC-based Areaware, which started producing the Star Spangled Spatula in several versions. In 2013, Jacob Riley-Wasserman started studying at the New York University in the Interactive Telecommunications Program which merges technology with design and art. The same year, he was diagnosed with cancer. He founded the charitable organization Flip4Cancer to raise money for cancer research. In Jacob Riley-Wasserman’s memory, his home county named the Star Spangled Spatula the official spatula of Cumberland, New Jersey.