The Piano Prize, being presented for the first time this year, is awarded annually to a senior graduating from NYU Abu Dhabi who best exemplifies former Provost Fabio Piano’s selfless devotion to science and to the wellbeing and excellence of our University. The Piano Prize will forever remind our academic community of the combined importance of research, excellence, and service in the life of NYUAD, on the model that Fabio Piano set for us in our first decade. Presented by Mariët Westermann, Vice Chancellor.
The NYU Abu Dhabi Global Leadership Award is given to a person whose actions embody the principles and values of the NYU Abu Dhabi community: to engage the world and celebrate its diversity and to advance the goal of a responsible, just, and peaceful globe. Presented by Mariët Westermann, Vice Chancellor.
The NYU Abu Dhabi Global Leadership Award is given to a person whose actions embody the principles and values of the NYU Abu Dhabi community: to engage the world and celebrate its diversity and to advance the goal of a responsible, just, and peaceful globe. Presented by Mariët Westermann, Vice Chancellor.
The Distinguished Alumni Award, which is being presented for the third time, honors an NYU Abu Dhabi graduate who exemplifies the commitment to intellectual and creative advance, the embrace and conceptual and ethical complexity, and the dedication to a more united, generous, and responsive world, which are at the core of NYU Abu Dhabi. Presented by Kyle Farley, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students.
Deans representing each division will present their candidates. The presentations will be followed by the official conferring of degrees by President Hamilton.
The NYU torch, symbolizing “academic purpose and authority,” has been an integral part of the University’s identity since 1911, and a part of its commencement ceremonies since 1938. In 2014, members of the NYU Abu Dhabi Design Collective collaborated to create a torch for NYU Abu Dhabi, which while remaining true to the structure of the original, incorporates elements drawn from local cultural heritage. Likewise, the ceremony of the torch, inspired by the practice in New York by which a senior member of the faculty passes the torch to the youngest undergraduate degree candidate, has been adapted for NYU Abu Dhabi’s Commencement. Here, a member of the graduating class passes the torch to a member of the following year’s graduating class.
