Joan Ganz Cooney Biography

Fast Facts

• Became the first female non-performer to be inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1990
• Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1998
• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 by Bill Clinton
• Established The Joan Ganz Cooney Center in 2007, a non-profit aimed at studying how to better improve children's literacy around the world
• Once served on the board of numerous organizations, including the Mayo Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Chase Bank and several others
• Began her college career at Dominican College, but would later finish her studies at the University of Arizona
• Underwent a radical mastectomy in 1975 after being diagnosed with breast cancer
• After graduating from college in 1951, she would relocate to Washington, D․C․, to work as a clerk in the State Department, but would soon return to Arizona to work as a journalist
• Despite enjoying theater in high school, she did not act in college productions because her father did not approve of acting as a career choice
• Quote: "[on to her time as a documentary producer] "I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven, dealing with foreign and domestic policy and civil rights, which became the great passion in those years for me․""
• Quote: "[on the conception and launch of Children's Television Workshop] "Preschoolers were not necessarily my thing․ It was using television in a constructive way that turned me on․""
• Best known as the co-founder of Children's Television Network, CTW, the network responsible for creating "Sesame Street"
• Cooked up the idea of education programming for children in 1966 while at a dinner party with Carnegie Corporation executive Lloyd Morrisett who was already active in funding educational media
• Remained with CTW until 1990, before stepping down to focus on public speaking engagements, her stepchildren and her role with non-profit organizations
• Worked as a publicist for 10 years in New York City before earning her first producing credits after the creation of WNET in the early '60s, the first public broadcast station in New York City