NYU Honors Sills with Rudin Award, Hauser with Gallatin Medal

Citation for the Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City, Presented to Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills, one of the greatest coloratura sopranos of the twentieth century, you have instilled music into the hearts and lives of millions around the globe and countless fellow New Yorkers. With warmth, intelligence, and humor, you serve as a diligent and eloquent advocate for the arts in America even as you work to ensure that they are available to everyone. Both on stage and off, you have cultivated young artists and reached out to broader audiences. In addition to thrilling listeners in opera houses the world over, you have advanced the cause of culture through your work as general director of the New York City Opera and chair of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera. A native of Brooklyn, you possess boundless commitment to serving others, which has improved innumerable lives in New York City and beyond. As national chair of the March of Dimes Foundation, you have enhanced the lives of our country’s children, one of many worthy endeavors to which you have lent your time and talents. For your exemplary leadership in the arts, your commitment to bettering the lives of New Yorkers—and the sheer thrill your voice has given to generations of music lovers—New York University is proud to present you with The Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City.

Citation for the Albert Gallatin Medal,
Presented to Rita E. Hauser

New York University today honors Rita E. Hauser—eminent attorney, devoted public servant, gifted philanthropist, and for nearly five decades an esteemed member of the NYU community.

Hauser is a leading authority in the fields of international conflict resolution, security, and human rights. She began her career at the United States Department of Justice, and later served as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and on commissions affiliated with the United States Department of State, the Brookings Institution, and the International Center for Peace in the Middle East.

Hauser was a partner in the law firm of Moldover, Hauser, Strauss & Volin, and later became the first woman to make partner at Strook & Strook & Lavan. Today she serves as president of The Hauser Foundation, guiding philanthropic contributions to worthy causes. A tireless advocate for international peace, she is also the board chair of the International Peace Academy and chair of the Advisory Committee of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy.

Deeply committed to New York University, Hauser has provided key leadership to help secure the University’s vibrant future. With her husband, Gustave, she has endowed the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, which brings international students and scholars to the school and prepares all law students for our increasingly internationalized age. She has also generously supported many other initiatives at the University, including a partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, an innovative collaboration that expands our students’ exposure to both the New York and international artistic communities.

A native of New York, she holds advanced degrees from the University of Strasbourg in France, Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and the University of Paris Law Faculty. She has been granted honorary degrees from numerous institutions, including Colgate University and the University of Miami. Among her many honors are the NYU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumna Award, the Women’s Economic Round Table Business Enterprise Award, the Harvard Law School Association Award, and the Shimon Peres Peace Award from Americans for Peace Now.

In recognition of her outstanding professional achievements, her hard work in helping secure a more peaceful world, her visionary philanthropic legacy, and her unwavering devotion to this institution, New York University is honored to present The Albert Gallatin Medal to Rita E. Hauser.