Bill Nye to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honors at Emmys

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) will be honoring television presenter and science educator Bill Nye with a lifetime achievement award at the fourth annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards.

Nye is the co-creator and host of the Emmy-winning ’90s television series Bill Nye the Science Guy, which helped introduce generations of viewers to science and engineering. He was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 by U.S. President Joe Biden in recognition of his dedication to science education.

Nye commented, “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. 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.”

Additionally, NATAS has announced the 2026 inductees to the Gold and Silver Circle Honor Society. Inductees are 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.

Vince Deadrick Jr., stunt coordinator and performer for Nickelodeon Studios, CBS, Paramount, Universal and ABC, and Michael Frith, producer and creative and design consultant for The Jim Henson Company, Sirius Thinking and No Strings, are being inducted to the Gold Circle.

The Silver Circle inductees are Sara DeWitt, senior VP and general manager at PBS KIDS; Amy Friedman, executive producer at Redhead Consulting, with experience at Nickelodeon, Universal Kids, Warner Bros. Discovery, Cartoon Network, Aspen Institute and Kidscreen; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, executive, producer and manager at the Gotham Group, with experience at Atlas Management, Nelvana Animation and the William Morris Agency; Alan Muraoka, performer, director and producer for Sesame Workshop, with experience at PBS, HBO, Disney Channel and the Olney Theatre Center; Paul Siefken, president and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions and former production executive at PBS KIDS; and Rosemarie Truglio, senior VP of global education at Sesame Workshop.

NATAS also revealed the honorees for individual achievement in animation. PBS’s Carl the Collector earned the honor for outstanding public service initiative. Bastien Grivet, visual development artist for Netflix’s Star Trek: Prodigy, is being honored for background design, while both James Saunders, animator for Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, and Max Winston, animator and fabricator of HBO’s Daffy in Wacklyland, are being honored for character animation. Kaloyan Athannassov, character designer for Netflix’s Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, is being recognized for character design.

The outstanding individual achievement in animation for color is going to Mark Anthony Mohamed, color supervisor for Paramount+’s Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The production design recognition is going to Brett Nystul, production designer for Netflix’s Spellbound. And Esteban Bravo, storyboard artist for Disney+’s Win or Lose, is being recognized for his storyboarding work.

“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,” said Adam Sharp, NATAS President and CEO. “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.”