Jessie Shefrin, along with Joseph Scheer and Peer Bode, co-founded the iea in 1997. Shefrin was the Co-director of the iea from 1997-2003 when she became Dean of Graduate Studies at RISD. While at Alfred University, she was Professor of Print and Digital Media, Chaired the Division of Expanded Media and the Electronic Integrated Art MFA Program, and received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

She received her BFA from Alfred University and her MFA from the University of New Mexico. Her work is in the archives of The Experimental Television Center and in the artists book collections of: The Whitney Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, and the National Museum of Women.