Mary Nissenson
Encyclopedia
Mary Nissenson is an award-winning American television journalist, who also has been an entrepreneur, social activist and university instructor.
in 1974, Nissenson received her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School
in 1977, where she was the first woman elected president of the law students' association in that institution's history.
with the Chicago
firm of Hopkins & Sutter
, Nissenson was hired as chief investigator of the consumer affairs unit (Factfinder) at WBBM-TV
Chicago. She received her first Emmy Award
eight months later for her investigative reports into violations of child labor laws -- a series also honored with a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association
in 1979, a Jacob Scher Award for investigative reporting, and a Peter Lisagor
Award.
In 1980, Nissenson was hired as a reporter/documentarian for WTVJ
-Miami. Shortly thereafter, Nissenson went to Israel
and Poland
to produce Pages of Testimony, which documented a Holocaust
survivor's return to Auschwitz and the donation of the Auschwitz Album
, a valuable pictorial record of the Holocaust, to the Yad Vashem
Museum in Jerusalem.
While in Warsaw
, Nissenson was tapped by CBS Network News
to cover Lech Walesa's Solidarity Movement and ensuing labor strikes which led to the democratization
of Poland. Nissenson's series of reports, Poland: Changing Nation, received a George Foster Peabody Award (television's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize
) just two months after she had begun her first full-time on-air reporting job.
Nissenson was hired by NBC Network News
in 1982, where, in addition to being a correspondent on three presidential campaigns, she sometimes guest-anchored on Today, NBC News at Sunrise
, NBC News Overnight
and NBC News Digest. She left the network in 1985 to report and anchor for WABC-TV
in New York.
From 1987 until 1988, Nissenson worked as a reporter at WBBM-TV
in Chicago. In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times TV columnist Robert Feder
, Nissenson denied that she resigned from the station in May 1988 because she was unable to obtain an anchor slot at the station. "I simply want to be my own person," she told Feder.
companies to divert monies from traditional marketing and advertising to public service ventures, earning Nissenson recognition as one of the "Socially Responsible Entrepreneurs of the Year" by INC Magazine and induction into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. During this same period, she and husband Bill Scheer (now deceased), founded Assignment Desk, Inc. the first worldwide fully computerized booking agency for videographers.
Nissenson's company, Foresight Communications, Inc., served as principal architect (Agency of Record) for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
for its first decade.
mishap left Nissenson homebound and disabled with an incurable pain condition, then known as cranial reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- ranked along side terminal bone cancer as one of the most painful conditions in the world. The mishap was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show
, in countless newspapers and magazines, and several documentaries, including America the Beautiful (2007). She spent most of the next 14 years bedridden. During this period, Nissenson founded the Triumph Over Pain Foundation, one of the first pain patient advocacy
groups in the country, and wrote a column to offer advice and encouragement to other pain patients.
She also became an accomplished self-taught glass artisan and award-winning jewelry designer and opened the Bali Muse gallery in Chicago, whose revenues supported the work of her pain foundation.
Left by her husband and dropped by her insurance company, Nissenson lost her home and life savings, paying for medical expenses well into the millions of dollars. In 2007, she moved to Kauai
in the hopes of healing and regaining her strength.
, where she is an instructor of graduate multi-media at San Francisco's Academy of Art University
. She recently formed Global Gravitas, Inc. (a 501c3) which specializes in strategic planning for international peace summits and global healthcare campaigns. Among their current projects are: A.M.E.N. (the first global campaign to fight MRSA) in cooperation with the President of the US Federation for Middle East Peace, and OMB (Obesity Must Go) a nationwide campaign to combat childhood obesity
, in support of First Lady Michelle Obama
's "Let's Move" efforts.
until 1989, when they divorced. She married Bill Scheer in 1994.
Early life and education
A summa cum laude graduate of Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1974, Nissenson received her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
in 1977, where she was the first woman elected president of the law students' association in that institution's history.
Broadcast journalism career
After practicing briefly as a corporate litigatorCorporate law
Corporate law is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law...
with the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
firm of Hopkins & Sutter
Hopkins & Sutter
Hopkins & Sutter was a Chicago-based law firm that practiced from 1921 to 2000, when it merged with Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner. The firm was established by Albert Hopkins and Harry Sutter...
, Nissenson was hired as chief investigator of the consumer affairs unit (Factfinder) at WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
Chicago. She received her first Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
eight months later for her investigative reports into violations of child labor laws -- a series also honored with a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
in 1979, a Jacob Scher Award for investigative reporting, and a Peter Lisagor
Peter Lisagor
Peter Lisagor was Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Daily News from 1959 to 1976 and was one of the most respected and best-known journalists in the United States...
Award.
In 1980, Nissenson was hired as a reporter/documentarian for WTVJ
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
-Miami. Shortly thereafter, Nissenson went to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to produce Pages of Testimony, which documented a Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor's return to Auschwitz and the donation of the Auschwitz Album
Auschwitz Album
thumb|right|440px|[[Hungarian Jew]]s on the Judenrampe after disembarking from the [[Holocaust train|transport trains]], to be sent rechts! - to the right - meant labor; links! - to the left - the [[gas chamber]]s. Photo from the [[Auschwitz Album]] The Auschwitz Album is a unique photographic...
, a valuable pictorial record of the Holocaust, to the Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
Museum in Jerusalem.
While in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Nissenson was tapped by CBS Network News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
to cover Lech Walesa's Solidarity Movement and ensuing labor strikes which led to the democratization
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
of Poland. Nissenson's series of reports, Poland: Changing Nation, received a George Foster Peabody Award (television's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
) just two months after she had begun her first full-time on-air reporting job.
Nissenson was hired by NBC Network News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
in 1982, where, in addition to being a correspondent on three presidential campaigns, she sometimes guest-anchored on Today, NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise was an early morning news program produced by NBC News from 1983 to 1999. The program featured the top news headlines of the morning, sports and weather reports, and business segments. Many of the program's anchors also appeared on The Today Show...
, NBC News Overnight
NBC News Overnight
NBC News Overnight was a television news program on the NBC television network airing weekday mornings from 1:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. from July 5, 1982 to December 3, 1983 for 367 telecasts...
and NBC News Digest. She left the network in 1985 to report and anchor for WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York.
From 1987 until 1988, Nissenson worked as a reporter at WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
in Chicago. In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times TV columnist Robert Feder
Robert Feder
Robert Feder is a noted Chicago media blogger who was the TV and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1980 until 2008 and a blogger for Vocalo.org from 2009 until 2010...
, Nissenson denied that she resigned from the station in May 1988 because she was unable to obtain an anchor slot at the station. "I simply want to be my own person," she told Feder.
Career as an entrepreneur
In 1988, Nissenson formed Foresight Communications, Inc. (FCI). FCI's worked with Fortune 500Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies to divert monies from traditional marketing and advertising to public service ventures, earning Nissenson recognition as one of the "Socially Responsible Entrepreneurs of the Year" by INC Magazine and induction into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. During this same period, she and husband Bill Scheer (now deceased), founded Assignment Desk, Inc. the first worldwide fully computerized booking agency for videographers.
Nissenson's company, Foresight Communications, Inc., served as principal architect (Agency of Record) for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure...
for its first decade.
Plastic surgery mishap
In 1995, a disastrous plastic surgeryPlastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
mishap left Nissenson homebound and disabled with an incurable pain condition, then known as cranial reflex sympathetic dystrophy
Complex regional pain syndrome
Complex regional pain syndrome is a chronic progressive disease characterized by severe pain, swelling and changes in the skin. It often affects an arm or a leg and may spread to another part of the body.Though treatment is often unsatisfactory, early multimodal therapy can cause dramatic...
- ranked along side terminal bone cancer as one of the most painful conditions in the world. The mishap was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, in countless newspapers and magazines, and several documentaries, including America the Beautiful (2007). She spent most of the next 14 years bedridden. During this period, Nissenson founded the Triumph Over Pain Foundation, one of the first pain patient advocacy
Patient advocacy
A Patient Advocate acts as a support structure and if legally contracted to do so may act as a liaison between a patient and their Health Care Provider. Most health care professionals see themselves as advocates for their patients, however their time and scope are limited by their job function...
groups in the country, and wrote a column to offer advice and encouragement to other pain patients.
She also became an accomplished self-taught glass artisan and award-winning jewelry designer and opened the Bali Muse gallery in Chicago, whose revenues supported the work of her pain foundation.
Left by her husband and dropped by her insurance company, Nissenson lost her home and life savings, paying for medical expenses well into the millions of dollars. In 2007, she moved to Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
in the hopes of healing and regaining her strength.
Today
Nissenson now lives in Sausalito, CaliforniaSausalito, California
Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
, where she is an instructor of graduate multi-media at San Francisco's Academy of Art University
Academy of Art University
The Academy of Art University , a for-profit university owned by the Stephens Institute, was founded in San Francisco, California in 1929 by Richard S. Stephens...
. She recently formed Global Gravitas, Inc. (a 501c3) which specializes in strategic planning for international peace summits and global healthcare campaigns. Among their current projects are: A.M.E.N. (the first global campaign to fight MRSA) in cooperation with the President of the US Federation for Middle East Peace, and OMB (Obesity Must Go) a nationwide campaign to combat childhood obesity
Childhood obesity
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects...
, in support of First Lady Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
's "Let's Move" efforts.
Personal life
Nissenson was married to Chicago TV reporter Mike ParkerMike Parker (reporter)
Michael J. Fishel , known professionally as Mike Parker, is a former news anchor and a longtime reporter for WBBM-TV in Chicago.-Early life and education:...
until 1989, when they divorced. She married Bill Scheer in 1994.