INTERNATIONAL VISUAL LITERACY ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES JOHN L. DEBES AWARD WINNER
Leuven, Belgium – Karen Tardrew, Ed. D, Associate Professor at National-Louis University, was awarded the International Visual Literary Association’s (IVLA) John L. Debes Award at the 51st annual conference held in Leuven, Belgium this past October.
The John L. Debes award is the highest award IVLA gives. Established in 1977, in John Debes’ own words, it is reserved for “people who have been strong leaders both in building and maintaining the Association” and have been active in “promoting visual literacy outside the organization.” It recognizes a long-term active commitment to the advancement of understanding in the field of visual communication as well as a proven and exceptional commitment to the organization. Under Tardrew’s leadership as President of IVLA, the organizational membership grew by nearly 600% and financial issues have resolved. She has also led four international conferences, overseen the development of a new website, and facilitated a critical partnership with Routledge for the Journal of Visual Literacy.
Michelle Wendt, Tardrew’s nominator, current IVLA President, and Technology Integration Specialist at Stockton University wrote “Karen assisted in leading a call for reputable names in technology and visual literacy to present and speak at our conferences and was recently asked to keynote an important visual literacy symposium at the Nagoya University of the Arts, in Nagoya Japan in October 2018.”
Tardrew is only one of thirteen scholars to win the John L. Debes award since 1977. Winners are selected by an awards committee comprised of IVLA members. Nominations for the 2020 awards will be announced shortly. For any questions in the meantime, contact Dr. Kazuyo Kubo, Awards Committee Chair, at kkubo@lesley.edu.
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Founded in 1968, the International Visual Literacy Association is an interdisciplinary organization of professionals working toward a fuller understanding of the way we derive meaning from what we see and the way we interact with our visual environment. For more information about IVLA, please visit https://ivla.org/.