Lohez 9/11 Foundation Honors "Ground Zero" Photographer Thomas E. Franklin

    NEW YORK, NY, April 13, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- During its Awards Gala on May 12 at the French Consulate in New York, The Jerome Lohez 9/11 Scholarship Foundation will honor world-renowned New Jersey photographer Thomas E. Franklin with its Distinguished American Spirit Award.

The award is given in recognition of "individuals who have contributed their creative and rhetorical talents toward the ennoblement of the human spirit in defiance of extremism, violence and destructiveness."

Thomas E. Franklin is currently a faculty member at Montclair State University's School of Communication and Media as an Assistant Professor in Multiplatform Journalism. He brings a wealth of journalism experience to his teaching after nearly 30 years as an award-winning news photographer and video journalist.

For 23 years he worked for The Record and the newspaper's website Northjersey.com, covering a wide range of assignments. His work has been recognized by national organizations such as Picture of the Year International, National Press Photographers Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists.

In 2002, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work on 9/11. He's best known for his iconic photograph of New York firefighters raising the American Flag at Ground Zero. The United States Postal Service featured the photo on the fund-raising Heroes stamp; proceeds have generated over $10 million. LIFE cited the image as one of the 100 Photographs That Changed the World, and it is part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, Newseum, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

"It is so wonderful to be able to honor Thomas Franklin with this award at our annual Gala," said Ellie de Abdi, an executive board member of the Lohez Foundation, who is also an adjunct professor at Montclair State. "He is an artist of extraordinary talent, whose work has earned its place in history, as well as in the hearts and minds of people the world over."

"Professor Franklin is training the next generation of photo journalists and encouraging his students to see the world through their own unique perspectives," said Daniel A. Gurskis, Dean of the College of the Arts at Montclair State University. "His teaching is as inspirational as his photographs. We offer him our congratulations on this notable award."

The Jerome Lohez 9/11 Scholarship Foundation is the only charitable organization established after the 9/11 tragedy that is dedicated specifically to promoting educational and cultural exchange among the U.S., France and China. By providing scholarship awards to multinational students, enabling them to study in one another's homelands, the Foundation aims to shape the next generation of global citizen, along with a new class of international policy makers. The Foundation also seeks to develop a pool of highly-trained multicultural business leaders to serve as innovators in multinational commerce. The foundation was launched in November 2005 in honor of Jerome Robert Lohez, a French citizen who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

To arrange an interview regarding the Lohez 9/11 Foundation Awards Gala, please call Tranquility49 PR at +1-212-519-8628 and ask for Patrick A. Berzinski.

Tranquility49 PR is a media-communications firm located in the heart of New York City.

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