Peterson and Cooney Honored at Annual Benefit Dinner
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| Peter G. Peterson, Joan Ganz Cooney, Hamilton E. James, Amabel B. James Photo: Don Pollard |
Joan Ganz Cooney was co-founder in 1968 of Children's Television Workshop (re-named Sesame Workshop in 2000) and originator of the preschool educational series, "Sesame Street," which has been broadcast daily since 1969 on more than 300 PBS stations in more than 140 countries. She served as president and CEO of Children's Television Workshop until 1990, and has received numerous awards including a Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement in 1989.
Peter G. Peterson was formerly U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Nixon and chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He was CEO of Bell and Howell (1963-71), chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers and its successor company (1973-84), and founding president of The Concord Coalition, a bipartisan citizens group dedicated to fiscal responsibility. He is chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Institute for International Economics, as well as the author of numerous books.
At the dinner, Provost William Kelly served as master of ceremonies. Amabel B. James, chair of the Board of Trustees of The Graduate Center Foundation, and one of the dinner's co-chairs, greeted the guests on behalf of the Foundation and introduced a short video documenting Peterson's and Cooney's illustrious careers.
Graduate Center President Frances Degen Horowitz presented each of the honorees with the President's Medal. Awarding the medal to Cooney, President Horowitz said, "the cumulative good of what you began and of what you have sustained in the service of young children's learning and development is incalculable." To Peterson, she said, "[Y]ou are a man whose independent and resolute voice has introduced into the discourse on the future of our nation the clarifying notes of reason and balance regarding both fiscal integrity and social responsibility."
"While the Graduate Center is devoted to people who are the pinnacle of their educational careers," said Cooney upon receiving the medal, "Sesame Workshop uses media to get young children off to a good start before they even begin school. I think everyone here would agree that education, whether in the classroom or in the home, changes the course of history--that through education, measurable differences can be made here and around the world, now and for generations to come."
After dinner, Peterson gave a speech reflecting on the recent U.S. presidential election and analyzing the factors that led to victory for President Bush. Looking at polling data on why people voted as they did, Peterson challenged the notion that it was "moral values," and the mobilization of evangelical Christian voters, that clinched the election. The most important factor was how people felt about Bush and Kerry personally, according to Peterson. "The voters trusted Bush more as a strong leader...and that was a decisive factor," he said.
The dinner was co-chaired by Richard I. Beattie, chairman, Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP; Monroe Carrell, Jr., chairman and CEO, Central Parking Corporation; Don Hewitt and Marilyn Berger; Amabel B. James, chair, Board of Trustees, The Graduate Center Foundation, Inc.; Hamilton E. James, vice chairman, The Blackstone Group, L.P.; Morton L. Olshan, president, Mall Properties, Inc.; and Martin E. Segal, chairman emeritus, Lincoln Center Board of Trustees and vice chair, Board of Trustees, The Graduate Center Foundation.
As a token of appreciation for their support, guests took home a complimentary, signed copy of Peterson's book Running on Empty, How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It and The Street We Live On, a DVD from the Sesame Workshop.
Music during the cocktail reception was provided by doctoral students Ming-Shi Du (violin), Chu-Ying Hu (viola), and Cheng-Hou Lee (cello); and music during dinner was provided by Jennifer L. Griffith.