Joan Ganz Cooney

Born: 1929

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: White

Dominican University of California (no degree); University of Arizona BA Education 1951

""I was raised in the most conventional way, raised to be a housewife and a mother, to work an interesting job when I got out of college, and to marry at the appropriate age, which would have been twenty-five." (Wikipedia); "I've never been qualified for any job I've been hired for." (Wikipedia); "I could do a thousand documentaries on poverty and poor people that would be watched by a handful of the convinced, but I was never really going to have an influence on my times. . . .Preschoolers were not necessarily my thing. It was using television in a constructive way that turned me on." (wikipedia); In describing Sesame Street: "The aim of the show is really to foster mutual respect for one another," says Cooney. "The show is about warmth and human understanding." (neh.gov); "

— Joan Ganz Cooney

Field of Study: Media

Institution/Corporation: PBS; Sesame Workshop

Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degrees Boston College (1970), Hofstra University (1970), Ohio Wesleyan University (1971), Oberlin College (1972), Princeton University (1973), Russell Sage College (1974), University of Arizona (1975 & 1989), Harvard University (1975), Allegheny College (1976), Georgetown University (1978), University of Notre Dame (1982), Smith College (1986), Brown University (1987), Columbia University 1991), New York University (1991), University of Pennsylvania (2002), Dartmouth College (Doctor of Arts 2006), Northwestern University (Doctor of Humane Letters 2012), Board of Directors: Director Johnson & Johnson. Director Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (1971–73). National News Council, (1973–81), Council Foreign Relations (1974–present), Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations (1978–80). Governor's Commission on International Year of the Child (1979), President's Commission for Agenda for the 1980s (1980–81), Carnegie Foundation National Panel on High Schools (1980–82), National Organization for Women (NOW), National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Institute Social Sciences International Radio and TV, Society American Women in Radio and TV; Trustee: Trustee WNET (Channel 13), Emeritus Museum of Television & Radio (Paley Center), Allegheny College, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, National Child Labor Committee; Member: Kappa Alpha theta

Awards: Christopher Medal, 1970; National Institute for Social Sciences Gold Medal, 1971; Frederick Douglass Award, New York Urban League, 1972; Silver Satellite Award, American Women in Radio and TV, 1979; Woman of the Decade Award, 1979; National Endowment for the Arts, Friends of Education Award, 1981; Kiwanis Decency Award, 1981; National Association of Educational Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award, 1981; Stephen S. Wise Award, 1981; Harris Foundation Award, 1982; Emmy Award, for Lifetime Achievement, 1989; Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, 1989; University of Arizona Centennial Medallion Award, 1989; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1995; 10th Anniversary Award, National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, 1996; National Women's Hall of Fame, 1998; National Endowment for the Humanities Award, 2003; National Humanities Medal, 2004;Literian Award of the National Book Award, 2010; Honoree, Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala, 2014; International Broadcasting Convention's International Honor for Excellence (1st female to receive award) 2018; 1990 Television Hall of Fame

Achievements: one of the founders of Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop or CTW), the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street, which was also co-created by her;