Distinguished Honorees
For more than four decades, RISD has been recognizing 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.
Honorary degree recipients, 1990–present
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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 activist2018
Cai Guo-Qiang | artist
Annie Leibovitz | photographer2017
Brian Chesky* (RISD BFA 04 ID) | entrepreneur
Joe Gebbia (RISD trustee + BFA 05 GD/ID) | entrepreneur
Christina Kim | designer
Kehinde Wiley | artist2016
Hilton Als* | author/art critic
Martha Rosler** | artist
Esther Wojcicki | education innovator2015
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 advocate2013
Karl Gerstner | artist/designer/typographer (in absentia)
Maira Kalman | artist/author/illustrator
Bill McKibben | author/environmental activist2012
Rebecca Solnit | author/historian
Wang Shu* | architect
Studio Ghibli | animated filmmakers2011
Arnold Berleant | philosopher
Bill Moggridge* | designer/author/educator
Mierle Ukeles | public artist2010
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
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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/advocate2008
Yo-Yo Ma | cellist/social advocate
Laurie Anderson* | performance artist
Ed Ruscha | artist2007
Gore Vidal | novelist
Seth MacFarlane (RISD BFA 95 FAV) | animator/film + TV producer/director
Richard Leacock | film director/cinematographer2006
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 designer2005
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 designer2004
Nathan Lyons | photographer
David Macaulay (RISD BArch 69) | author/illustrator
Esther Elise (Estise) Metcalf Mauran (RISD trustee) | philanthropist/arts advocate2003
Dave Hickey* | art critic
Mihaly Czizksentmihalyi | psychologist/author
Jens Risom | furniture designer
Jenny Holzer (RISD MFA 77 PT) | conceptual artist2002
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.* | critic/historian/educator
Ann Hamilton | sculptor
Pauline Trigere | apparel designer
Szymon Bojko (RISD faculty member) | educator/arts advocate2001
Gae Aulenti | architect
Louis Fazzano* (RISD trustee) | businessman/philanthropist
David Hammons | illustrator
Hermann Junger | jewelry artist2000
Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová | glass artists
Paula Rego | painter/printmaker
Sidney Greenwald (former RISD Board chair) | businessman* delivered Commencement keynote address
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1999
Rosalind Krauss | art critic
Eugene Lee | set designer
Rachel L. Mellon | landscape architect1998
Malcolm Grear (RISD professor) | graphic designer
Hugh Hardy | architect
Se-ok Suh | painter1997
Virginia Lynch (RISD trustee) | gallery owner/collector
Peter Geisser | art educator/glass artist
Chuck Close | painter
Antonio Ratti | textile designer
Vartan Gregorian | educator/college president1996
Helen Frankenthaler | painter
Harvey K. Littleton | glass artist
Houghton P. Metcalf, Jr. (RISD trustee) | philanthropist
Lina Wertmuller | filmmaker1995
Carlos Gonzalez-Lobo | architect
John Marshall | cinematographer
Charlotte Perriand | furniture designer
Paula Cooper | gallery owner/collector
John Sculley | software designer1994
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 designer1992
Magdalena Abakanowicz | sculptor/textiles artist
Geoffrey Beene* | fashion designer
Sam Maloof | furniture designer
Maurice Sendak | picture book illustrator1991
Liz Claiborne | fashion designer
Jim Henson (posthumously) | artist/puppeteer
JB Jackson | landscape architect
George Morrison* | painter
Claiborne Pell | senator/arts advocate1990
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
Stories about recent honorary degree recipients
Justice Takes Center Stage at Commencement
Keynote speaker Bryan Stevenson will highlight the commitment to equity and inclusion among RISD’s honored guests.
Honoring Innovation at Commencement 2018
Artist Cai Guo-Qiang, photographer Annie Leibovitz and robotics pioneer David Hanson are being recognized at this year’s ceremony.
Saluting Success @Commencement 17
RISD grads and Airbnb cofounders Joe Gebbia 05 GD/ID and Brian Chesky 04 ID are among the honored guests joining the celebration at Commencement 2017.