About me
Steve Anderson is an Emeritus Professor of Interactive Design and the former director of the School of Media Arts & Design at James Madison University. His websites have won the top awards from the Broadcast Education Association (Best of Festival) and the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (Best of the Web). A recent instructional site was recognized with a Gold Award in the W3 Awards. Besides creating websites, he also developed an iOS app that was available in the Apple App Store.
Anderson served in various roles with BEA including chair of the Production Aesthetics & Criticism Division, the BEA Convention Program Chair (2000), and as a member of the BEA Board of Directors. He served as the 2004-2005 BEA President.
Anderson created and maintained the BEA website for the first 10 years of its existence (1995-2005).
In 2000/2001, BEA president Don Godfrey appointed him as co-chair (with Scott Hodgson) of a BEA "Creative Activities Task Force." The task force developed a statement supporting the role of creative activity in higher education and provided guidelines regarding how to assess creative work in the evaluation of faculty seeking promotion and tenure. (Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure for Electronic Media Faculty Involved in Creative Work). The task force also recommended the establishment of an association peer-reviewed venue for reviewing and exhibiting creative activity. The recommendation resulted in board approval for the creation of the BEA Festival of Media Arts. Anderson organized the first few years of the Festival; communicating with winners, producing the rundown, and writing scripts, while his friend and colleague John Woody produced the video segments.
Anderson was selected by Adobe to be an Adobe Education Leader. The AEL program recognizes “innovative educators who are effectively using Adobe tools and applications to promote excellence in the classroom.”
Anderson has a strong interest in international education. He ran a journalism-based study abroad program in Urbino, Italy for 10-years and he taught internationally in Cairo, Istanbul, Florence, and London.
Anderson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Denver. Prior to entering academe, he was a weather anchor and environmental reporter for KCNC-TV in Denver. He resides in Harrisonburg, Virginia with his wife, Mary Ellen. They have three sons and four grandchildren.
