Illustrious Legal Scholar Martha Minow, This Year’s Speaker, Joins Ouided Bouchamaoui, Leader in the Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, and Nobel-Winning Scientist Katalin Karikó, Whose Research Enabled COVID-19 Vaccines, at NYU’s Commencement Ceremony—the First to Feature an All-Woman Slate of Honorary Degree Recipients
“Wicked” Star Brittney Johnson to Perform
Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai, chairman of Fubon Financial Holding Company and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, and Daniel Doctoroff, former NYC deputy mayor and founder of Target ALS, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, to receive Presidential Medals; Anthony W. Marx, president of the New York Public Library, to receive the Rudin Award; William R. Berkley, executive chairman, W. R. Berkley Corporation and chair emeritus and executive vice chair of the NYU Board of Trustees, to receive the Gallatin Medal; Tony-Award winner Susan Hilferty and actress Brittney Johnson, who starred in “Wicked” on Broadway, to receive University Medals
NYU President Linda G. Mills and Board of Trustees Chair Evan R. Chesler today announced the names of the honorees of New York University’s 191st All-University Commencement Exercises, which will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at Yankee Stadium.
NYU President Mills said, “This year’s honorees and award winners have excelled individually in their chosen fields as scholars and scientists, business leaders and philanthropists, bridge builders and changemakers; collectively they have forged a legacy of distinction that will continue to inspire generations to come. New York University is proud to acknowledge this outstanding group and their accomplishments, as we are proud to gather to honor and commemorate the Class of 2024.”
This year’s commencement speaker will be Martha Minow—300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and former dean of Harvard Law School; a celebrated legal scholar and a leading voice on a range of issues, from justice and equality to conflict and extremism; author of many books and law teacher and mentor of generations of lawyers and leaders for 43 years; co-chair of the access to justice project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and key facilitator of Imagine Coexistence, a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees program that promoted peace and development in societies ravaged by war and conflict—who will receive a Doctor of Laws degree honoris causa.
This year’s other recipients of honorary doctorates are:
- Ouided Bouchamaoui—an international business woman and advocate for women’s empowerment; a conflict resolution expert; a professor of practice of diplomacy and conflict resolution at NYU Abu Dhabi; and a central figure in the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, which was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in creating pluralistic democracy in Tunisia—will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree honoris causa.
- Katalin Karikó—co-winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her contributions to the development of the mRNA technology used in the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection; professor at the University of Szeged (Hungary) and adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; and the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Japan Prize, the Horwitz Prize, the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine, the Princess Asturias Award, the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, and the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award—will receive a Doctor of Science degree honoris causa.
NYU Presidential Medals will be presented to two honorees. Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai (Stern ’81)—the chairman of Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd., a renowned business leader, devoted philanthropist, and member of NYU’s President’s Global Council and the NYU Stern Executive Board—will receive the medal for his globe-spanning accomplishments in business and for his ongoing support of NYU’s mission to help students achieve their educational dreams and excel as a global institute of higher learning. Daniel Doctoroff—former NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding; founder of Target ALS, which has pioneered a new collaborative approach to research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; former CEO of Sidewalks Labs; and former CEO and president of Bloomberg LP—will receive the medal for the indelible mark his ideas left on New York City; for his quiet role in helping NYU conceptualize its unrivaled global network; and for demonstrating how technology, ingenuity, and civic leadership can transform a metropolis.
Actress Brittney Johnson, a Tisch School of the Arts alumna who made history as the first Black woman to play the role of Glinda in "Wicked" on Broadway. Photo credit: Emilio Madrid.
The Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City will be presented to Anthony W. Marx, the president of the New York Public Library, the nation’s largest and most utilized library system. He has strengthened the NYPL’s commitment to underserved New Yorkers by creating literacy and after-school programs for children, increasing free English language classes and citizenship support programs for immigrants, bridging the digital divide among disparate economic groups, and expanding access to e-books and computer classes to further literacy.
The Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society will be presented to William R. Berkley (Stern ’66), executive chairman, W.R. Berkley Corporation, and chair emeritus and executive vice chair of the NYU Board of Trustees. He founded the W.R. Berkley Corporation, a Fortune 500 property-casualty insurance holding company, in 1967, and has served as vice chair of both the Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut boards. Berkley has also served as chair of the Achievement First charter school board. Most recently, he was a recipient of the 2024 Horatio Alger Award and NYU’s Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service. As a member of the Stern School of Business Executive Board (former chairman), the NYU President’s Global Council, and the NYU Langone Health Board, an NYU Trustee since 1995, and Board Chair from 2015 to 2023, Berkley has devoted himself to NYU and has been a primary force in its unprecedented trajectory.
Susan Hilferty—arts professor and former chair for 25 years of the Department of Design for Stage & Film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts—will introduce a special performance at this year’s ceremony from the hit show Wicked. A renowned designer for more than 400 productions worldwide, Hilferty created enchanting costumes for Wicked that earned the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in 2004. Her other Broadway credits include Spring Awakening, Parade, Funny Girl, and Into the Woods, to name just a few. Hilferty has also designed at the Metropolitan Opera, including Rigoletto, La Traviata, and the upcoming Aida, and over 40 productions with South African playwright Athol Fugard. Hilferty will receive the University Medal for her monumental contributions to NYU and for advancing the University’s legacy in the arts.
The Wicked performance at Commencement will pay tribute to the friendship and resilience of the Class of 2024 and will recognize the NYU community’s enduring mark on the show—a global phenomenon that is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. The performance will feature Brittney Johnson (TSOA ’12), an accomplished actress and singer who made history as the first Black woman to play the role of Glinda in Wicked on Broadway. Johnson, who is an ambassador for the (RED) organization and a voiceover and commercial artist, has also starred in Les Misérables, Motown The Musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Sunset Boulevard, and Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls. In 2023, she was the face of Prudential and Playbill’s “Stages on Broadway” nationwide contest. Johnson will receive the University Medal for her outstanding contributions as an alumna of NYU.
The Presidential Medal, the Gallatin Medal, and the Rudin Award are presented at pre-Commencement events.
In honor of NYU’s Class of 2024 graduates, the Empire State building will be lit in NYU violet on the evening of Thursday, May 16, 2024. For more information, please visit the NYU Commencement site.
Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities (with more than $1 billion per year in research expenditures, it is ranked seventh among private 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 and has 13 other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra, and US sites in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Tulsa, OK. 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, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public service, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.