GSFA to celebrate 100th birthday

The Graduate School of Fine Arts will mark its 100th birthday today with a formal centennial convocation in the Annenberg School Theatre. The ceremonies will feature a 70-person academic processional, with the school's faculty, overseers, trustees, administrators and some students donning formal academic robes. The ceremony will include the presentation of honorary doctor of fine arts degrees to four men who have been involved with the University and have distinguished themselves in the fine arts community. The honorary degrees will go to Balkrishna Doshi, a founding member and the first director of the Ahmedabab School of Architecture and Planning, Joseph Esherick, a 1937 graduate of the Graduate School of Architecture, Lawrence Halprin, an environmental designer, town planner and author, and former dean Sir Peter Shepheard. Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Lee Copeland said that the recipients "represent the values that the School of Fine Arts stands for." Former deans G. Holmes Perkins and Shepheard, School of Fine Arts Board of Overseers member Bruce Graham, and former University president and University Professor Martin Meyerson will receive the first Graduate School of Fine Arts Awards, created by Fine Arts Professor Robert Engman. Following the awards ceremonies, Shepheard will deliver the convocation address. Shepheard last spoke at the School of Fine Arts in May 1989, in the second of three lectures kicking off the 100 year celebration. Today's convocation concludes the celebration. Dean Copeland, whose term ends at the end of the semester, said he is proud to be able to preside over the convocation. "Given the legacy of the school and those who have participated, faculty and students, it is a privilege to be here at this moment," said Copeland. "The centennial allows us to reflect on these acheivements."

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