George Steiner. 1957. Professor of Broadcast Communication; Educational Television Coordinator. Arts. BA (1947) California State University, Fresno; MA (1950) Wayne State University; Ph.D. (1959) University of Southern California. Steiner directed the second annual one-week session of the Instructional Television Institute in cooperation with KQED-TV (PBS, San Francisco) at their studios in 1966. He received a souvenir pen used by President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Public Broadcasting Act into law on November 7, 1967. He served on San Francisco Unified School District’s Advisory Committee on Television Education in 1969. Steiner served as SF State’s Coordinator for Educational Television from 1961 to 1979 when he returned to teaching full time. Educational [Instructional] Television started at SF State in 1956 as a result of a Ford Foundation grant administered under President J. Paul Leonard. A study plotted the achievement in growth of students taking one open circuit course at home compared to those taking the same course over closed circuit television on campus and those taking the course as it was taught with a life instructor in a classroom. The study extended for four semesters, from September 1956 to June 1958. The courses televised were in areas of psychology, English, economics, creative arts, and social sciences. They were televised over KQED and originated from the KQED studios. The study found that students taking courses over the open circuit at home on television fared as well as, and sometimes better than those in controlled groups. [Source: HHT-037: November 5, 1986]. Retired in 1983.
