Honorary Degree Recipients also Include Scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier, Actor/Director and NYU Alum Billy Crystal, Congressman and Civil Rights Leader John Lewis, and Judge Margaret Marshall
Honorary Degree Recipients also Include Scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier, Actor/Director and NYU Alum Billy Crystal, Congressman and Civil Rights Leader John Lewis, and Judge Margaret Marshall
Alan Gilbert, NY Philharmonic’s Music Director, to Receive the Rudin Award, and Businesswoman and NYU Trustee Chandrika Tandon to Receive the Gallatin Medal
NYU President Andrew Hamilton and Board of Trustees Chairman William Berkley today announced the names of those to be honored at the University’s 184th Commencement Exercises, which will be held Wednesday, May 18, 2016 in Yankee Stadium.
Darren Walker – President of the Ford Foundation, a leading innovator of community development in New York City and around world – will address the graduates and guests on behalf of all the degree recipients. Mr. Walker will receive a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa, at the ceremony.
This year’s other recipients of honorary doctorates are:
• Emmanuelle Charpentier – a scientist whose research led to some of the most important tools for genome “editing”, and Scientific Member and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and Visiting Professor at Umeå University – will receive a Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa.
• Billy Crystal – comedian, actor, producer, writer, director, and 1970 alumnus of the Tisch School of the Arts – will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree, honoris causa.
• John Lewis – a courageous leader of the U.S. civil rights movement and a Member of Congress since 1986 – will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa.
• Margaret Marshall – who, as a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the first woman to hold that position, wrote the first high court opinion in the U.S. permitting same-sex marriage – will receive a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa.
The “Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society” will be presented to businesswoman, Grammy-nominated musician, and NYU Board of Trustees Vice Chair Chandrika Tandon for her achievements in business; her accomplishments in the performing arts; her involvement and contributions of time and energy in NYU's global efforts and across many of NYU's schools; and her generous support of engineering, technology, and innovation.
The “Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City” will be presented to Alan Gilbert, the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, in recognition of his leadership in making New York one of the world’s great centers for music and the arts.
Ticket reservations for commencement begin on March 14.
Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai; has eleven other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra; and both sends more students to study abroad and educates more international students than any other U.S. college or university. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public administration, social work, and professional studies, among other areas.
