AWC Detroit Members in the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame
Member Joanne C. Gerstner to be inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2021
Gerstner will join six other journalists in the 2021 class when they are honored at a ceremony this fall.
“I am extremely honored to be selected for the Hall of Fame,” Gerstner told The News. “We have a long and amazing tradition of women in sports media in Michigan, and I am the product of the women who paved the way for me. And there will be many more to come in the Hall.” Gerstner was nominated by the Association for Women in Communications Detroit.
Joanne C. Gerstner is an award-winning multi-platform sports journalist, author, researcher and thought leader. She is the co-leader of the Sports Journalism program in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, teaching upper-level sports journalism classes and directing the Education Abroad program.
Her work appears in The New York Times, USA Today, ESPN, The Detroit News, U.S. Olympic Committee website, The Cincinnati Enquirer, PGA Magazine and other outlets. She is a frequent commentator and expert on sports and women’s media issues for global outlets, such as CNN, BBC and NPR.
Gerstner’s book, “Back in the Game: Why Concussion Doesn’t Have to End Your Athletic Career“, was honored with the national 2017 Clarion Award by the Association for Women in Communications for best non-fiction book. The book, which focuses on youth concussions and sports – aimed at coaches, athletes and parents – was published by Oxford University Press.
In June 2019, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Gerstner as a Commissioner to Michigan’s Task Force on Women in Sports. She is the only sports journalist on the inaugural 14-person task force. It is the first task force in the country to be empaneled at the state level to examine and make recommendations about girls and women in sports.
Also in 2019, Gerstner was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Specialist designation the U.S. Department of State, for journalism, sports media, journalism leadership and women in media leadership.
She received MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences 2017 Faculty Impact award, given annually to a faculty member who impacts students through mentoring and leadership. Gerstner is also the 2017 Association for Women in Communication’s Headliner Award winner for the Detroit chapter, for her achievements and leadership in sports journalism.
Gerstner’s career has taken her to the world’s biggest sporting events: the Olympics, women’s and men’s soccer World Cups, French and U.S. Open tennis championships, Ryder Cup, and numerous Stanley Cup, NBA, and NCAA playoffs/championships. She has been an NBA, tennis, golf, international sports and Olympics beat writer, as well as a main features/takeout writer.
In 2015, she became the first sports journalist in the world to be awarded a Jacobs Foundation Fellowship for neuroscience. She studied under key researchers, professors and doctors at Zurich in social neuroscience and neurology. She continues her interaction with the Jacobs Foundation as a media educator for its world-leading neuroscientists and researchers.
During 2012-13, Gerstner was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, focusing her academic year-long studies on sports and concussions. She frequently provides expert analysis and lectures on sports neurology. She was a featured panelist at South by Southwest Sports 2015 for the festival’s first discussion of brain health and athletes. The keynote speaker for the 2019 Big Ten/Ivy League TBI symposium, discussing translational neurology and the media.
Gerstner is the past president and chair of the board for the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM). She is the inaugural 2014 AWSM Ann Miller Award recipient for her organizational contributions and advancing women in sports media.
Gerstner, a native of Grosse Pointe Woods, is a graduate of Oakland University (BA) and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (MSJ). Oakland University named her as its Distinguished Alumni Award winner in 2020.
Congratulations to Joanne for this well deserved honor!
We would also like to celebrate the following illustrious group of other AWC Detroit members who were inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in previous years. Member Maureen McDonald has played a special role in advocating for these successful candidates.
Click on each name below for more details on their amazing accomplishments. The names follow the pictures, in order (left to right).
Patricia Anstett, Medical journalist – 2017
Betty DeRamus, Reporter and writer, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News – 2015
Jennifer Moore, Reporter, news anchor, business editor, WDIV – 2014
Nancy McCauley, Investigative journalist, WJBK – 2013
Anne Doyle, TV sports broadcaster – 2007
Mary Lou Butcher, Reporter and crusader for women’s rights – 2006
Julie Candler, Columnist and magazine journalist – 1999
Fran Harris, Pioneer broadcast journalist, WWJ Detroit – 1986