Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis
in the Mass Media Awardee
2002: Dr. Jon Palfreman
Dr. Jon Palfreman graduated from University College, London with First Class Honors in Physics, and went on to do an M.Sc. at Sussex University in History and Philosophy of Science. He worked as a lecturer for four years before joining BBC Television, where he produced dozens of programs about science, technology and medicine. In the late 1980s, Palfreman came to Boston to work at WGBH, where he produced the NOVA miniseries “The Pioneers of Surgery” (about the history of surgery) and the Peabody Award winning series “The Machine That Changed the World” (about the history of computers).
More recently, Palfreman’s programs for FRONTLINE and NOVA have explored the intersection of science, policy and law. Palfreman has made more than one hundred television programs, including over 30 PBS documentaries such as the Emmy Award winning NOVA “Siamese Twins.” He is a three-time winner of the AAAS/Westinghouse Science Journalism Award, a three-time winner of the National Association of Science Writers “Science-in-Society Journalism Award”, and a winner of the Writers Guild Award. Palfreman is also the recipient of the 2001 Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, an award which recognizes a body of work over a five-year period. He is also a Trustee and member of the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.
Most recently, Palfreman’s latest NOVA/FRONTLINE special, “Harvest of Fear”, won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for Outstanding Television News. He is the author of two books and is an adjunct professor at Tufts University, where he teaches a course on risk communication.
In September, 1996, Palfreman left WGBH to set up his own production company, the Palfreman Film Group. In addition to broadcast work, the company undertakes certain nonbroadcast projects involving the communication of complex ideas, especially where health, technology, education and environmental issues are involved.
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