THE NEW SCHOOL ANNOUNCES ROBERT HAMMOND AS 2012 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERMay 18 , 2012 |
NEW YORK - The New School has announced that Robert Hammond, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the High Line, will address graduates at its 76th commencement exercises. New School President David E. Van Zandt, will preside over the May 18 ceremony, which will be held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. "The New School's tradition of engaging community through education has inspired generations of activists and free thinkers who have made our city and our world a better place to live," said Hammond, who will be delivering his first-ever university commencement address. "I am honored to address The New School's newest class of creative, intellectual, and social leaders." The Class of 2012 is The New School's largest, with 3,258 degree recipients across all levels. Illustrative of The New School's recent transformation into a major degree-granting university with more than 10,000 students, this year's ceremony will introduce the first class of graduates of several new programs, including the MS in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management; MA in Fashion Studies; MFA in Fashion, Design and Society; and MFA in Transdisciplinary Design. In addition, this year university will graduate its first dual-degree M.Arch/MFA in Architecture and Lighting Design. "True to our founders' vision, The New School continues to evolve to meet the new challenges of the global economy - a set of challenges for which our graduates are uniquely prepared," said Van Zandt, who became The New School's eighth president in January 2011. "Across disciplines, our students and alumni think and work creatively to address society's problems in ways that constantly challenge the status quo. Nearly a century since our founding, this unique energy keeps The New School true to its name." In addition to Hammond, honorary degrees will be awarded to individuals whose contributions embody The New School's commitment to publicly engaged scholarship and social action: Robert Jay Lifton, founder of the field of psychohistory and author of more than 20 books including The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide and Destroying the World in Order to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism; Brooke Gladstone, co-host and managing editor of NPR's nationally broadcast On the Media and author of The Influencing Machine; and Ana L. Oliveira, President and CEO of The New York Women's Foundation, and former Executive Director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis. For additional information about Commencement, visit http://www.newschool.edu/commencement/2012.
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| About The New School The New School, a leading progressive university in New York City, was founded in 1919 as a center of intellectual and artistic freedom. Today The New School is still in the vanguard of innovation and experimentation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students in design and the social sciences, the humanities, management, and the performing arts and thousands of adult learners in continuing education courses. Committed to public engagement, The New School welcomes thousands of New Yorkers yearly to its celebrated public programs and maintains a global presence through its online learning programs, research institutes, and international partnerships. Learn more at www.newschool.edu. ### |
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