John Anthony Lent PhD., Professor Emeritus of Temple University, Researcher, Educator, Author and Founder/Editor of the International Journal of Comic Art was recently selected as Top Author of the Year for 2020 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the profession.
While inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor in itself, only a few members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, longevity in the field, other affiliations and contributions to their communities. All honorees are invited to attend the IAOTP’s annual award gala at the end of this year for a night to honor their achievements. www.iaotp.com/award-gala
With over 6 decades of professional experience as an Author, Editor and pioneer in the fields of cartooning and comics, Dr. Lent has certainly proven himself as an expert in the field. As a dynamic results-driven leader, Professor Lent has also demonstrated success for many years through International Communication Studies, Caribbean Mass Media and Popular Culture, Development Communications, Critical Mass Communications and in Asian Mass Media and Popular Culture. He is Professor Emeritus of the Mass Media & Communications Program at the School of Communication and Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. and he still acts as Professor and Advisor to Doctoral Candidates at the Animation School of the Communication University of China.
Throughout his diverse career path, he has published over 85 books and monographs as the Author or Editor and also many journal symposia, chapters in books, forewords, prefaces and hundreds of articles. Professor Lent has Authored or Edited the first volumes of Caribbean media and popular culture, Asian newspapers, Asian broadcasting, Asian film, Asian popular culture, Asian animation and Asian comics. Some of his most recent works include Comics Art in China (with Xu Ying, 2017), Asian Comics (2015), Key Thinkers in Critical Communication Research (with Michelle Amazeen, 2015) and Southeast Asian Cartoon Art: History, Trends and Problems.
Dr. Lent’s impressive repertoire of his life’s work includes teaching Mass Communication from 1960-2011. He was the founder and director of the first mass communication school in Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (1972-1974). Professor Lent served on faculties at the West Virginia Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, University of Wyoming, Marshall University, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire, Temple University and De La Salle College (Philippines). He was a visiting Professor at the Communication University of China Animation School, Beijing Film Academy- Qingdao, Nanjing Normal University, Shanghai University and University Kebangsaan. Dr. Lent was also the Rogers Distinguished Professor of Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.
Before embarking on his professional career path, Dr. Lent earned his Bachelor of Science, Journalism (1958) and his Master of Science, Journalism (1960) from Ohio University with a minor in human relations. In 1972 he received his PhD in Mass Communications from the University of Iowa. Along with his degrees, Professor Lent studied abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico, Tokyo, Japan, Oslo, Norway, and New Delhi, India.
Stephanie Cirami, President of IAOTP stated, “Choosing Dr. Lent for this honor was an easy decision for our panel to make. His creativeness and extensive amount of worldly experience are what make him so exceptional. He is a brilliant man and we are truly honored to have him as our Top Author of the Year. We cannot wait to meet him at this year’s Annual Awards Gala and we hope he attends our future events.”
Throughout his illustrious career, Professor Lent has received many awards, accolades and has been recognized in numerous publications and magazines worldwide for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the profession. This year he is being considered for a feature article in TIP (Top Industry Professionals) Magazine and is also being considered for IAOTP’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be honored at IAOTP’s 2020 Annual Awards Gala, being held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City for his selection as Top Author of the Year. He has been featured as a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines (1964-1965) and the Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award from Temple University was given (1987-1988). In 2006, the Asian Media and Information Center’s initial Lifetime Achievement Award was received by Professor Lent and in Spain, the John Buscema Amar el Comic Award was given to him. Three major organizations (International Comic Art Forum, Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Studies Group and PCA’s Comics Section) have established awards in Professor Lent’s name for best paper presentations, also a festschrift was published honoring his work. In addition to these extraordinary accomplishments, the Popular Culture Association’s President’s Award was received in 2010, followed by the Calicomix Diploma de Honor given in Colombia in 2012. He was nominated for the Eisner Award in 2014 and the AYACC Lifetime Honor Award was received in 2017. Dr. Lent has also been a recipient multiple times of Who’s Who Awards over the course of his professional life.
Aside from his successful career and travelling the world, Professor Lent has founded and chaired/edited a number of scholarly groups and academic journals including, Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Studies Group for the Association of Asian Studies, Comic Art Working Group of IAMCR, Asian Cinema Studies Society , Asian Youth Animation and Comics Competition, Asian Research Center of Animation and Comic Art and Asia Pacific Animation and Comics Association; Berita, WittyWorld International Cartoon Magazine, Asian Cinema and International Journal of Comic Art.
Looking back, Dr. Lent attributes his success to his highly disciplined upbringing, his lifetime search for gaps in research in need of filling, and his remaining passion in each and every professional endeavor he has taken on. For the future, he hopes to encourage people to find the time to enjoy reading , be inquisitive and critical about their surroundings, and attempt to treat their vocations as avocations.
About IAOTP
The International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) is an international boutique networking organization who handpicks the world’s finest, most prestigious top professionals from different industries. These top professionals are given an opportunity to collaborate, share their ideas, be keynote speakers and to help influence others in their fields. This organization is not a membership that anyone can join. You have to be asked by the President or be nominated by a distinguished honorary member after a brief interview.
IAOTP's experts have given thousands of top prestigious professionals around the world, the recognition and credibility that they deserve and have helped in building their branding empires. IAOTP prides itself to be a one of a kind boutique networking organization that hand picks only the best of the best and creates a networking platform that connects and brings these top professionals to one place.
For more information on IAOTP please visit: www.iaotp.com
