The Jessie McCanse Award Recipients
2024 Carol Arcus
Carol Arcus, B.Ed, M.A., is a Director in The Association for Media Literacy and has served on AML’s Executive since 1991. She taught secondary level Media Studies and English at Unionville High School in Ontario for 20 years. She has also taught Additional Qualifications courses for teachers in Media Studies for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), for the Toronto District School Board, and presently teaches AML’s virtual AQs. She currently serves on the Board of the McLuhan Foundation. Carol has published articles in the Journal of Media Literacy and given numerous workshops and presentations on how to integrate media literacy into curriculum. She served on the writing and review committees for two iterations of Ontario’s English curriculum.
2022 Renee Cherow-O’Leary
Dr. Cherow is the Founder and President of Education for the 21st Century, a media consulting group in New York City. She is a researcher, writer, speaker and creative thinker with deep experience in educational theory and practice at all levels. As a futurist she follows trends about social change and mediated experiences and brings this unique perspective to her consulting.
2018 Henry Jenkins
Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Art and Education at the University of Southern California, founder and former director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, prolific author and editor of more than 17 books on media and popular culture.
2018 Carolyn Wilson
Educator, author and consultant in media and information literacy and global education for over 30 years in schools, libraries, NGOs, media industries, and governments around the world. Currently on the Faculty of Education, Western University, Canada and Chair of GAPMIL, a UNESCO Alliance.
2018 Bill Siemering
Pioneer radio innovator and advocate, member of the founding board of NPR, founder of Developing Radio Partners, nurturing independent radio in the developing world.
2018 Marilyn Cohen
Director of the Northwest Center for Excellence in Media Literacy, College of Education, University of Washington (UW) and Executive Director of the Seattle-based nonprofit Action for Media Education.
2015 Martin Rayala, Ph.D.
Art, Media and Design Education Consultant, founder of MADEx and GameChanger Institute, past president of NTC, editorial board of The Journal of Media Literacy
2013 Frank Baker
Consultant, educator, speaker, author, founder of the nationally recognized Media Literacy Clearinghouse online resource, South Carolina
2013 Tessa Jolls
President and CEO of the Center for Media Literacy since 1999, founder of the Consortium for Media Literacy, speaker, writer, consultant, Los Angeles, California
2013 Barrie McMahon
Distinguished Australian pioneer, teacher mentor, author and founder of the Western Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM)
2010 Idit Harel Caperton, Ph.D.
Visionary researcher, entrepreneur, and innovator, Founder of MaMaMedia and the World Wide Workshop Foundation for Children’s Media Technology & Learning
2010 Cary Bazalgette
Educator, author, researcher, and voice of the British Film Institute’s Education Initiatives, London, England
2007 Chris Worsnop
Pioneering educator, author, critic, actor, producer, and poet in media literacy, Ontario, Canada
2007 Sr Rose Pacatte, FSP
Daughter of St. Paul, founding Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Boston, and Director of its Los Angeles Western branch educator, author, critic, actor, producer, and poet in media literacy, Ontario, CA
2005 David Buckingham
Professor of Education, Institute of Education, and Director of the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media, London University, UK, author and co-author of eighteen books
2004 Rich Fehlman, Ph.D.
Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa, past Chair of National Council of Teachers of English, Assembly on Media Arts
2003 Len Masterman
Lecturer in Education, University of Nottingham, England, Consultant to UNESCO and the Council of Europe, author of Teaching the Media, 1985
2001 Neil Andersen
English and Media Consultant, Toronto District School Board, Former Media teacher, Toronto High Schools, Canada
2000 Kathleen Tyner
President & CEO, Hi-Beam Consulting, Founder, Strategies for Media Literacy, University of Texas, Austin
1996 Jean-Pierre Golay
Former Director, Centre d’Initiation aux Communications (CIC), Lausanne, Switzerland, retired.
1995 John Pungente, SJ
Jesuit Communication Project, President of the Canadian Association of Media Education Organizations (CAMEO), Toronto, Canada
1994 Hon. Lee Dreyfus, Ph.D.
Former Governor of the State of Wisconsin, former Chancellor and Professor of Communications, UW-Stevens Point
1994 David Considine, Ph.D.
Professor, Appalachian State University, Coordinator of the Graduate Degree Program in Media Literacy, Boone, N.C.
1994 Madlyn Steinhart
Canarsie Junior High School Teacher, Brooklyn, N.Y. Founder, Educators of Media and Telecommunications
1990 John Brammall
Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education, University of Tasmania-Launceston, retired.
1989 Barry Duncan
Head of English, School of Experiential Education, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. Co-founder, Association for Media Literacy (AML).
1988 Mary Moen
Madison West High School Speech/Communications Teacher, retired, Madison, Wisconsin
1987 Susan Dreyfus Fosdick
Madison West High School Speech/ Communications Teacher, retired, Madison, Wisconsin
