Dr. Joel Avery Benedict
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BiographyProfessor of Education and Director of the Audio-Visual Center at Arizona State University. In 1930 was teacher in the public school.Getha Munds Benedict obit, Nov 1966
James T. Benedict Sr. obit, AR, 22 Jul 1998 Tempe CD 1930
Joel A. Benedict was born March 2, 1909, to a pioneering Arizona family at Camp Verde. He earned his bachelor's and master's degree at Tempe Teacher's College/Arizona State Teacher's College (former names of Arizona State University), and his doctorate at Stanford University.
In 1946, Joel became an assistant professor at Arizona State Collegeand was appointed the first director of Audiovisual Services. In that capacity, he established the Central Arizona Film Cooperative, whose collection of films, filmstrips, slides and materials were housed on campus and loaned to schools in the region through a member co-op. He also played an instrumental role in assisting with the development of KAET-TV (Channel 8), the public television station on campus. From 1947-1949 he filmed Sun Devil football games, and invented a machine to process motion picture film quickly so that the team could view footage of the first quarters at half time.
He was elected president of the Arizona Association for Audiovisual Education in 1948, 1949, 1950, and originator and editor of the association's newsletter, and Audio Visual News. As early as 1958, he was teaching courses by television - long before "distance learning" or "distance education" became mainstream.
In 1962, Dr. Benedict assisted Indiana University, through a contract with the U.S. Department of State, in establishing an audiovisual program in Nigeria. He and his wife, Irene also had conducted a number of summer study tours for teachers to overseas countries as well as many workshops for business, industrial, educational, and professional groups.
He was appointed director of Media Research and Development in 1974, and later retired in 1978 after 32 years of outstanding service to Arizona State University.
During Arizona State University's Centennial year in 1985, Dr. Benedict was awarded the Medallion of Merit, which honored 100 individuals who have made significant contributions to public schooling in Arizona during the past 100 years. In addition, the College of Education designated him the first recipient of its Hall of Fame Award in 1990.
In 1988, Joel and Irene Benedict established the Visual Literacy Collection at Arizona State University in which to preserve multimedia materials for students and scholars. It was later renamed the Benedict Visual Literacy Collection in honor of the Benedicts' contribution and personal commitment to the University in 1994.
Throughout his prolific career as an audiovisual pioneer, Joel Benedict developed a national reputation for university film and audiovisual work. He produced and published numerous pieces of educational materials, copyrighting 93 of them in the name of the university. Many of these sound filmstrips, motion pictures, books and devices have been distributed throughout the United States and over 20 foreign countries.
(http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/benedict.htm)
Dr. Benedict was in the Naval Reserve, serving in World War II with both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets as an Air Navigation Officer. Benedict developed a system for teaching in-flight navigation calculation. He also designed a photo-recording device to record data on newly installed stations throughout the Pacific Rim. He organized the Naval Research Reserve Unit in Phoenix and served as the first commanding officer from 1947-1953, and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Another notable achievement includes establishing a four-year high school at Mayer, Arizona and school Superintendent, 1932-1936.
Awards: elected life Fellow of Arts and Letters for Notable Achievement in Arts in 1961 in Switzerland; elected Member and Fellow of World Wide Academy of Scholars, 1971, at Hamilton, New Zealand; awarded Medallion of Merit for Leadership and Contribution to Excellence in Public Education; and listed in "Who's Who in the West" and "Who's Who in American Education" in 1957. In 1994, the collection on the fourth floor of the Hayden Library was renamed for him and his wife, Irene.
Dr. Benedict died November 9, 2001, at the age of 92. He was survived by his wife, Irene; a stepdaughter, Judy Lepire; and a brother, Sam.
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