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Joan Ganz CooneyIt is truly difficult to grasp the number of lives that have been touched by Joan Ganz Cooney. As co-founder of Children's Television Workshop and originator of the educational series Sesame Street, she helped create the first preschool television program to integrate education and entertainment. Now in its remarkable 35th season, Sesame Street has been seen by millions of children in more than 140 foreign countries. Indigenous co-productions reflecting local languages, customs and educational needs have been produced for audiences in the Arab world, Israel, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, France, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Russia, China, South Africa, Egypt, the Philippines, Canada, Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America. Although the name has changed (CTW became Sesame Workshop in 2000) and the scope of programs and products has expanded with time to include, among other things, books, magazines, an amusement park and a touring company (Sesame Street Live), the organization's philosophy remains the same. In all forms of media and throughout every culture, the Workshop has continued to reach out to educationally disadvantaged children to improve their chances of academic success and socialization. While Mrs. Cooney has impacted innumerable children around the globe with her innovative educational programming, her role as a pioneer for women in the business world has often been overlooked. She has not only led by example with her own entrepreneurial success, but provided opportunities within CTW for many other women to prosper, prompting her 1998 induction in the National Women's Hall of Fame. Mrs. Cooney fostered a diverse working environment in which everyone was encouraged to contribute. Her creative energy and extraordinary willingness to reinvent made Sesame Workshop into what it is today: the gold standard for supplemental education. Mrs. Cooney stepped down from her position as president of the Workshop in 1990 but, as chairwoman of the Executive Committee, she is still very much involved in the direction of the organization she helped found and nurture. Among the many awards she has received throughout her career are honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Barnard, New York University, Smith, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Oberlin, University of Pennsylvania and her alma mater, the University of Arizona, from which she received the Centennial Medallion Award in 1989. In addition to the countless Emmys awarded to Sesame Workshop productions, Mrs. Cooney was given her own Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement in 1989. In 1990, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and received the Founders Award from the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1995, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Most recently, President Bush presented her with the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal, and on December 2, Mrs. Cooney will add her AEP Hall of Fame induction to a long list of honors and accomplishments. Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 302-295-8349. |
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