Honorary Degree Recipients Also Include Genomicist Claire Marie Fraser, Afghan Museum Director and Preserver of Cultural Patrimony Omara Khan Masoudi, and Film Director and NYU Tisch Alum Oliver Stone

Edith Windsor, Alumna at Center of Supreme Court Challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, to Receive the NYU Presidential Medal; Kimberly Glassman to Receive Rudin Award Honoring Heroics of NYU Nurses during Hurricane Sandy; Philanthropists Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller to Receive Gallatin Medal

NYU President John Sexton and Board of Trustees Chairman Martin Lipton today announced the names of those to be honored at the University’s 181st Commencement Exercises, which will be held Wednesday, May 22 in Yankee Stadium.

David Boies – a renowned litigator who is chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP; alumnus of NYU’s School of Law; and (along with Ted Olson) lead counsel in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the historic same-sex marriage civil rights case now before the Supreme Court -- will address the graduates and guests. Mr. Boies will receive a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa, at the ceremony.

This year’s other recipients of honorary doctorates are:

Claire Marie Fraser – professor of medicine and director of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Genome Sciences – will receive a Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa.

Omara Khan Masoudi – Director General, National Museum of Afghanistan – will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa.

Oliver Stone – Oscar-winning filmmaker and alumnus of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts – will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree, honoris causa.

Edith Windsor, an NYU alumna who has bravely waged the fight against the Defense of Marriage Act (the other same-sex marriage case currently being considered by the US Supreme Court), will receive the NYU Presidential Medal.

The “Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society” will be presented to philanthropists Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller for their leadership at the NYU Langone Medical Center and their extraordinary commitment to medical research, education, and poverty initiatives.

The “Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City” will be presented to Kimberly Glassman, an alumna of the NYU College of Nursing, on behalf of all the nurses at the NYU Langone Medical Center whose heroic efforts to save patients’ lives during Hurricane Sandy drew national recognition.

This year’s student commencement speaker is Chelsea I. Garbell, who is expected to graduate summa cum laude from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development with a Bachelor of Science. She majored in media, culture, and communication, with minors in public health and policy, and Hebrew and Judaic studies. She was a national finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship.

Click here for commencement details.

Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost 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; has eleven other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra; and sends more students to study abroad than any other U.S. college or university. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU conducts research and provides education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public administration, social work, and continuing and professional studies, among other areas.