Distinguished Honorees

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bryan stevenson at podium commencement 2019 speaker

For more than four decades, RISD has recognized selected leaders in contemporary culture with honorary degrees. Presented each year at Commencement, honorary doctor of fine arts degrees celebrate the work of innovative individuals who have made significant social and cultural contributions to society. Honorary degree candidates are selected not only for advancing their fields but for embodying RISD’s values and furthering its mission.

Nomination process

Each spring RISD’s Honorary Degree Committee—appointed by the president and comprised of students, faculty, staff and trustees—solicits, reviews and recommends nominees to the Board of Trustees for the following year’s Commencement ceremony. Once the Board reviews and approves the committee’s nominations, the president selects and extends an invitation to each candidate, who is asked to accept the award in person at Commencement.

Every member of the RISD community is encouraged to submit nominations at any point in the year, with the understanding that the committee reviews nominations a full academic year in advance of when these degrees are awarded.

For more information, read the full honorary degree policy.

Nominate a candidate

Honorary degree recipients, 1990–present

2021

Virgil Abloh* | artist
David Byrne | musician
Elizabeth Diller | architect
Shepard Fairey (BFA 92 IL) | artist/activist
Lynne Nottage | playwright
2019

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | writer/activist
Theaster Gates | artist/activist
Bryan Stevenson* | lawyer/social justice advocate
Nadya Tolokonnikova | conceptual artist/political activist

2018

Cai Guo-Qiang | artist
Annie Leibovitz | photographer

2017

Brian Chesky* (RISD BFA 04 ID) | entrepreneur
Joe Gebbia (RISD trustee + BFA 05 GD/ID) | entrepreneur
Christina Kim | designer
Kehinde Wiley | artist

2016

Hilton Als* | author/art critic
Martha Rosler** | artist
Esther Wojcicki | education innovator

2015

John Waters* | filmmaker
Adam Gopnik** | author/art critic
Tina Weymouth (BFA 74 PT) | musician (Talking Heads)
Chris Frantz (BFA 74 PT) | musician (Talking Heads)
Jerry Harrison | musician (Talking Heads)

2014

Todd Oldham | designer
Jean Kennedy Smith | diplomat/healthcare advocate

2013

Karl Gerstner | artist/designer/typographer (in absentia)
Maira Kalman | artist/author/illustrator
Bill McKibben | author/environmental activist

2012

Rebecca Solnit | author/historian
Wang Shu* | architect
Studio Ghibli | animated filmmakers

2011

Arnold Berleant | philosopher
Bill Moggridge* | designer/author/educator
Mierle Ukeles | public artist

2010

Art Spiegelman | artist/cartoonist/graphic novelist
Seymour Chwast | graphic designer/illustrator//typographer
Paula Granoff (honorary trustee) | art collector/philanthropist
Ruth Simmons* | educator/college president

* delivered Commencement keynote address

** delivered Graduate Hooding keynote address
2009

Betty Woodman | ceramicist
Sir Ken Robinson* | author/arts educator/advocate
Caterina Fake | entrepreneur
Jonathan Ive | industrial designer
Roger Mandle (former RISD president) | art historian/arts administrator/advocate

2008

Yo-Yo Ma | cellist/social advocate
Laurie Anderson* | performance artist
Ed Ruscha | artist

2007

Gore Vidal | novelist
Seth MacFarlane (RISD BFA 95 FAV) | animator/film + TV producer/director
Richard Leacock | film director/cinematographer

2006

Kara Walker (RISD MFA 94 PT/PR) | artist
Lari Pittman | painter
Mel Chin | sculptor)
Jane Chace Carroll (RISD trustee) | philanthropist/arts advocate
John O.C. McCrillis (RISD BFA 39 GD) | graphic designer

2005

Kurt Andersen | author/cultural critic/radio host
Deborah Berke (RISD BArch 77) | architect
Zuzana Licko and Rudy VanderLans | graphic designers
Yuri Norstein | animation
Eva Zeisel | ceramist/industrial designer

2004

Nathan Lyons | photographer
David Macaulay (RISD BArch 69) | author/illustrator
Esther Elise (Estise) Metcalf Mauran (RISD trustee) | philanthropist/arts advocate

2003

Dave Hickey* | art critic
Mihaly Czizksentmihalyi | psychologist/author
Jens Risom | furniture designer
Jenny Holzer (RISD MFA 77 PT) | conceptual artist

2002

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.* | critic/historian/educator
Ann Hamilton | sculptor
Pauline Trigere | apparel designer
Szymon Bojko (RISD faculty member) | educator/arts advocate

2001

Gae Aulenti | architect
Louis Fazzano* (RISD trustee) | businessman/philanthropist
David Hammons | illustrator
Hermann Junger | jewelry artist

2000

Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová | glass artists
Paula Rego | painter/printmaker
Sidney Greenwald (former RISD Board chair) | businessman

* delivered Commencement keynote address
1999

Rosalind Krauss | art critic
Eugene Lee | set designer
Rachel L. Mellon | landscape architect

1998

Malcolm Grear (RISD professor) | graphic designer
Hugh Hardy | architect
Se-ok Suh | painter

1997

Virginia Lynch (RISD trustee) | gallery owner/collector
Peter Geisser | art educator/glass artist
Chuck Close | painter
Antonio Ratti | textile designer
Vartan Gregorian | educator/college president

1996

Helen Frankenthaler | painter
Harvey K. Littleton | glass artist
Houghton P. Metcalf, Jr. (RISD trustee) | philanthropist
Lina Wertmuller | filmmaker

1995

Carlos Gonzalez-Lobo | architect
John Marshall | cinematographer
Charlotte Perriand | furniture designer
Paula Cooper | gallery owner/collector
John Sculley | software designer

1994

June Wayne (Printmaker)
Harve Stein (Illustrator)
Faith Ringgold (Painter/Sculptor)

1993

Daphne and Peter Farago | arts advocates/collectors/philanthropists
William Jordy* | art historian
Elizabeth Murray | painter
Ettore Sottsass | industrial designer

1992

Magdalena Abakanowicz | sculptor/textiles artist
Geoffrey Beene* | fashion designer
Sam Maloof | furniture designer
Maurice Sendak | picture book illustrator

1991

Liz Claiborne | fashion designer
Jim Henson (posthumously) | artist/puppeteer
JB Jackson | landscape architect
George Morrison* | painter
Claiborne Pell | senator/arts advocate

1990

Louis Malle | film director
Michael Graves | architect
Dorothy Hood | painter
Anni Albers | textiles artist

* delivered Commencement keynote address

President’s Medal of Honor

The President’s Medal of Honor recognizes individuals and organizations who have enhanced RISD through civic engagement, advocacy, philanthropy and other exceptional contributions to the institution. Established in 2019, it commemorates deeds outside the areas of artistic or academic achievement that make an enduring and transformative impact on the college, museum and RISD community.

Honorees

2021

Pauline C. Metcalf | RISD trustee emerita, RISD Museum governor
Stephen Metcalf | RISD trustee emeritus, RISD Museum governor
Vera Metcalf

2019

Dr. Joseph A. Chazan | nephrologist, art collector and advocate

Selected honorary degree recipients

Virgil Abloh sitting on an outdoor park bench — Virgil Abloh | 2021

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2019 — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 2019

playwright Lynn Nottage — Lynn Nottage | 2021

Bill McKibben 2013 — Bill McKibben | 2013

Deborah Berke RISD BArch 77 2005 — Deborah Berke (RISD BArch 77) | 2005

Jenny Holzer RISD MFA 77 PT 2003 photo by Kyle Dorosz — Jenny Holzer (RISD MFA 77 PT) | 2003 (photo by Kyle Dorosz)