Bill Nye to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor at Childrens & Family Emmy Awards
Bill Nye will be the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at this year’s Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced on Thursday. The ceremony is set to take place on March 1, while winners of this year’s awards will be revealed at a ceremony on March 2. Both ceremonies…
Bill Nye will be the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at this year’s Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced on Thursday.
The ceremony is set to take place on March 1, while winners of this year’s awards will be revealed at a ceremony on March 2. Both ceremonies will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
Nye is a science educator, engineer, television presenter and inventor, and is co-creator and host of the Emmy Award-winning ’90s television series Bill Nye the Science Guy. In 2025, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden, included in the TIME 100 Health list for his advocacy on Ataxia, a rare genetic disease, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“This is quite an honor. Thank you. As you may know, I pretty much put my heart and soul into all the shows I’ve worked on.” Nye said in a statement. “I believe that the process of science is the best idea humans have ever had. I loved making shows that encouraged kids of all ages to embrace the P, B, and J – the Passion, Beauty, and Joy – of science, while also showing that you, the viewer, can change the world. I’ve spent my life doing what I love, and this award is not only a celebration of my past work, but a reminder of the impact we can have if we choose to invest in science education and the next generation of leaders.”
On Thursday, NATAS also announced the 2026 inductees to the Gold and Silver Circle Honor Society in the Children’s & Family community. According to the organization, inductees are “exceptional professionals who have performed distinguished service and made enduring contributions to the continued excellence of the television industry for at least 50 or 25 years, respectively.”
Moreover, the organization also announces this year’s honorees for Individual Achievement in Animation and Outstanding Public Service.
Adam Sharp, NATAS President and CEO, added: “Mr. Nye is one of the most revered broadcast educators in television history, having instilled multiple generations of children with an appreciation for the extraordinary world of science. It is an honor to celebrate his career, as well as the esteemed careers of this year’s Gold and Silver Circle inductees and individual honorees, alongside this year’s fantastic nominees who are building upon their work with important children’s programming today.”
See below for the inductees and honorees.
Gold Circle – 2026 Children’s & Family Inductees:
- Vince Deadrick Jr., Stunt Coordinator and Performer – Nickelodeon Studios; CBS; Paramount; Universal; ABC
- Michael Frith, Producer, Creative & Design Consultant – The Jim Henson Company, Sirius Thinking, No Strings
Silver Circle – 2026 Children’s & Family Inductees:
- Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Children’s Media Innovator – PBS Kids
- Amy Friedman, Executive Producer – Redhead Consulting; Nickelodeon; Universal Kids (NBCUniversal); Warner Bros. Discovery; Cartoon Network; Aspen Institute; Kidscreen
- Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Executive, Producer, Manager – The Gotham Group; Atlas Management; Nelvana Animation; William Morris Agency
- Alan Muraoka, Performer, Director, Producer – Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street); PBS; HBO; Disney Channel; Olney Theatre Center
- Paul Siefken, President and CEO, Fred Rogers Productions; Production Executive – PBS; Cartoon Network
- Rosemarie Truglio, Senior VP of Global Education at Sesame Workshop – Sesame Workshop/Sesame Street; PBS
Outstanding Public Service Initiative
Carl the Collector, PBS
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Background Design
Bastien Grivet, Visual Development Artist
Star Trek: Prodigy, Netflix
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Character Animation
James Saunders, Animator
Ultraman: Rising, Netflix
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Character Animation
Max Winston, Animated and Fabricated By
Daffy in Wacklyland, HBO | Max
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Character Design
Kaloyan Athannassov, Character Designer
Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, Netflix
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Color
Mark Anthony Mohamed, Color Supervisor
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Paramount+
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Production Design
Brett Nystul, Production Designer
Spellbound, Netflix
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation – Storyboard
Esteban Bravo, Storyboard Artist
Win or Lose, Disney+
