Above: Joel Mason (right), chair of the Department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts, New York City College of Technology (NYCCT), is congratulated by Lloyd Carr, director of the graphic arts program at NYCCT, upon his receipt of the “Person of the Year” award from the Printing Teachers Guild of New York. Below: Mason and the Guild’s 2008 Teacher Honorees, Neil Forde and John Fiore. Both are instructors at the High School of Graphic Communication Arts in Manhattan.
Last night, the chair of a degree-granting graphics program that enrolls more than 1,100 students was hailed as “Person of the Year” by the Printing Teachers Guild of New York, a 76-year-old organization for graphic educators. The honoree, Joel Mason, chairs the Department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts, New York City College of Technology (NYCCT), a unit of the City University of New York (CUNY).
The Guild saluted Mason for his role in making the department the largest academic program of its kind in the New York-metro area. He also was praised for his efforts to promote careers in graphic communications in partnership with high schools and prospective employers. (Mason and the department were profiled in an interview for WhatTheyThink’s Education Week series in 2006.)
Mason has chaired NYCCT’s Department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts since 1988. He began teaching at the college as an adjunct instructor in 1977 and has been a full-time member of the faculty since 1979. The holder of a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MFA from Hunter College, Mason also founded a design firm serving clients in the public and private sectors. He is the current president of the New York Chapter of the American Printing History Association.
In his acceptance remarks, Mason said that the future success of graphic communications education requires instructors to understand the impact of accelerating technological change upon the industry. He also called upon educators to form career-nurturing partnerships with other schools and with industry leaders “who recognize the critical importance of educating the workforce of the future—and who are willing to support our efforts.”
Also saluted by the Guild as Teacher Honorees were John Fiore and Neil Forde, longtime instructors at the High School of Graphic Communication Arts (GCA), a public school known for many years as the New York School of Printing. Both men are graduates of New York City public high schools, and both earned degrees from CUNY. Forde has retired; Fiore recently announced his intention to do the same after more than 30 years of teaching at GCA.
Discussion
By Jack Powers on Jun 16, 2008
On the morning of that day, I attended a meeting of New York Mayor Bloomberg's Task Force on Career & Technical Education where an army of educrats paid homage to technical education. It constantly surprises Teachers College graduates that CTE kids who learn real skills -- like printing, desktop publishing, digital imaging -- stay in school longer, graduate more and test better than students jammed into merely academic classes. Schools systems around the country are doubling down on tech ed as an important path from school to work.
Joel Mason, Neil Forde, John Fiore and Lloyd Carr are part of an irreplaceable cohort of graphic arts teachers who are bringing graphics education into the next generation. As Joel said, our industry has to get more closely involved with graphic arts high school and colleges. It's good corporate citizenship ... and good business.
By Danielle Davis on Jun 20, 2008
Thank you for honoring my dad John Fiore. I know how much effort he put into his job for all these years. I am so proud of him. He has made me the woman I am today. I hope his
loyalty, honesty and integrity are instilled upon the many lives he has touched.
By Don carli on Jun 23, 2008
It has been my privilege to be a faculty member in the Advertising Design and Graphic Arts Department of New York City College of Technology and to have had the honor of working with Joel Mason and Lloyd Carr.
They have been exemplars and mentors to thousands of students that now serve our industry. As Chairman, Joel Mason is an educator who has dedicated himself to bridging the fields of graphic design and print production in collaboration with Graphic Arts Program Director Lloyd Carr. Together they have created a program that equips students with an all too rare combination of the historical, theoretical, aesthetic, technical and practical aspects of graphic communication.
It is important that we recognize and support their efforts to prepare the next generation of well rounded graphic communication professionals so desperately needed by our industry. I urge you to voice your recognition of their efforts and encourage you to support their program with your time, your input on their program and scholarship funding.
Don Carli
Senior Research Fellow
The Institute for Sustainable Communication
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