Cleveland State University
School of Communication
2121 Euclid Avenue
MU 233
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
Campus Location
2nd Floor
Music & Communication Bldg.
Phone: 216.687.4630
Fax: 216.687.5435
Web Content Contact
r.pitchford@csuohio.edu
216.687.5077
Web Technical Contact
Rick Pitchford
r.pitchford@csuohio.edu
216.687.5077
CLEVELAND
STATE PROFESSOR HONORED FOR UNPRECEDENTED THIRD TIME BY MENSA FOUNDATION
FOR RESEARCH ON GIFTED CHILDREN
Robert Abelman, Ph.D., professor of communication at Cleveland State
University, has been honored by the Mensa Education and Research Foundation
with a 2005-2006 Award for Excellence in Research, it was announced
today.
Abelman is a third-time recipient of this prestigious award from Mensa,
the high-IQ society. He was previously honored in 1999-2000 and 2003-2004.
He is one of just six people selected this year among an impressive
slate of international candidates.
For all three awards, Mensa recognized Abelman's research on gifted
children and television and his contributions that help define what
we understand about intelligence. Over the last two decades, his work
with intellectually and artistically gifted children helped develop
and improve child- and family-oriented television programming for commercial
and public television networks.
His recent article, "Fighting the War on Indecency: Mediating TV,
Internet and Video Game Usage Among Achieving and Underachieving Gifted
Children," which will appear in Roeper Review, served as the basis
for the award.
Abelman studies how children learn to watch TV, the manner in which
they watch TV, and the effects that TV has on their imagination and
behavior. He has served as a consultant for Sesame Street, Barney and
The Cosby Show among other popular programs.
The National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented, Association
for Childhood Education, National Association of Broadcasters and the
Javits Act Program have sponsored his research. He is also the author
of Reclaiming the Wasteland: TV & Gifted Children (Hampton Press,
1995) and, with University of Connecticut communication professor David
J. Atkin, The Televiewing Audience: The Art and Science of Watching
TV (Hampton Press, 2002).
Abelman joined Cleveland State in 1981, earned a Distinguished Faculty
award in 1995 and serves as director of the School of Communication's
Media Arts and Technology division. He lives in Chagrin Falls with his
wife Judy and two children, Ryan and A.J.
For more information, please call Cleveland State's Office of Marketing
and Public Affairs at 216-687-2290.