Lloyd Morrisett facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lloyd Morrisett
Morrisett in 2010
Born	Lloyd Newton Morrisett Jr. (1929-11-02)November 2, 1929 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2023(2023-01-15) (aged 93) San Diego, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Oberlin College (BA) Yale University (PhD)
Occupation	Experimental psychologist, educator, philanthropist
Known for	Experimental psychologist and founder of the Children's Television Workshop, which created Sesame Street
Spouse(s)	Mary Pierre
Children	2
Parent(s)	Lloyd N. Morrisett (father)

Lloyd Newton Morrisett Jr. (born November 2, 1929 – died January 15, 2023) was an American experimental psychologist. He spent his career working in education, communication, and helping others through charity. He was one of the people who started the Children's Television Workshop. This organization is now called Sesame Workshop. It created the famous children's TV show Sesame Street. Morrisett created the show along with Joan Ganz Cooney.

Early Life and Learning

Morrisett was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family later moved to Yonkers, New York, and then to Los Angeles. This was to escape tough times during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In Los Angeles, he met Julian Ganz, who later introduced him to Joan Ganz Cooney. His father was a professor, and Morrisett thought he would also become a professor. He once said, "I was brought up to believe that being a professor was the best job in the world."

College and Psychology

Morrisett went to Oberlin College and earned a degree in philosophy in 1951. He first wanted to be a chemist. But a fascinating class made him want to study experimental psychology instead. He later became a leader on Oberlin College's board.

He studied psychology at UCLA for two years. There, he met a professor named Irving Maltzman. Morrisett said Maltzman was "very important, very influential in psychology." They worked together and wrote several research papers.

Inspired by Maltzman, Morrisett went to Yale University in 1953. He studied there for three years and earned a PhD in experimental psychology. At Yale, he worked with Carl I. Hovland, a leading psychologist. Hovland started a program about communication. Morrisett later said this experience made him interested in how people communicate.

His PhD paper looked at whether thinking about an activity could make you better at it. He found that for some tasks, like a two-handed coordination task, it could help. This paper is now seen as an early contribution to sports psychology.

Starting a Career

In 1956, Morrisett began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. But he wasn't sure if academic life was for him. He felt it wasn't exciting enough. From 1958 to 1959, he worked for the Social Science Research Council in New York. There, he met Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell. These two are known for helping to create the field of cognitive psychology. This field, which studies how we think, became a passion for Morrisett.

Working at Carnegie

Morrisett joined the Carnegie Corporation in 1959. This was a charity that focused on education. He worked there for ten years. He became a vice president. During his time at Carnegie, they helped create the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This is a national test that checks what American students know in different subjects.

Morrisett became an expert in early education. He also worked on projects about human creativity. He saw that many poor and minority children faced challenges in learning. He wanted to find ways to help them get better preschool education. He supported experiments to test teaching methods. But he was frustrated because these experiments only reached a few hundred students. He wanted to help many more children.

Creating Sesame Street

The idea for Sesame Street came to Morrisett in December 1965. His 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, was watching TV. She was waiting for her cartoons to start. Morrisett noticed how fascinated she was by the TV. He saw that Sarah had memorized many TV jingles (short advertising songs).

This made him think: if TV could teach kids jingles, could it teach them important things like letters and numbers? Could it use the same fun ways that ads used?

In February 1966, Morrisett talked with Joan Ganz Cooney at a dinner party. He asked her, "Do you think television can be used to teach young children?" She was interested. They thought TV would be a great way to reach many children.

Cooney then spent three months researching. She wrote a report called "The Potential Uses of Television in Pre-School Education." It suggested using advertising tricks to teach kids. This report became the main idea for a new, fun, and educational TV show for preschoolers.

Morrisett and Cooney showed their idea to Harold (Doc) Howe, the U.S. Commissioner of Education. He gave them $4 million to start the Children's Television Workshop. Morrisett also got $1 million from Carnegie. Other groups, like The Ford Foundation, gave $3 million. People say that if Morrisett hadn't been so good at getting money, Cooney's idea might never have happened.

The Show's Success

Sesame Street first aired on November 10, 1969. It featured Jim Henson's Muppets. John Gardner, a former president of the Carnegie Corporation, said Morrisett was very modest. But he played a "very significant" part in starting Sesame Street.

By 2008, Sesame Street had won 118 Emmy Awards. This is more than any other TV show. About 77 million Americans watched the show when they were kids. The show is also made in many other countries around the world. Sesame Workshop has also created other shows, like The Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo.

The Markle Foundation

In 1969, the same year Sesame Street started, Morrisett became the chairman of its board. He also became president of the John and Mary Markle Foundation. He changed the foundation's focus from medicine to communication and information technology. He helped the Children's Television Workshop develop good research methods for its new TV programs.

Morrisett explained that his foundation was like a "venture capital company." But instead of making money, they aimed for "social benefit." This meant they invested in ideas that would help society. He spent years exploring if this idea of "venture capital for social benefit" truly described the Markle Foundation's work.

Personal Life

Lloyd Morrisett and his wife, Mary Pierre, had two daughters. He passed away peacefully at his home in San Diego on January 15, 2023. He was 93 years old.

Later Activities

Morrisett stayed involved in many important organizations:

• Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop): He was a board member from 1970 to 2023 and chairman from 1970 to 2000.
• Public Agenda Foundation: He was a board member from 1998 to 2023.
• Tucows, Inc.: He was a board member from 1994 to 2023.

He also served on the board of RAND for thirty years. RAND is a research group that studies public policy and national security. He was chairman of their board for nine years, from 1986 to 1995.

Awards and Honors