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Sophia, Hanson Robotics' Most Advanced and Celebrated Robot, Delivered Keynote Address at Rhode Island School of Design's 2018 CommencementPROVIDENCE, R.I., June 2, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This morning, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) awarded degrees to 463 undergraduate and 208 graduate students at its 135th Commencement ceremony. Commencement 2018 took place at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence. On behalf of Hanson, Sophia delivered the keynote address urging students "to bring to the world a different kind of dream—a dream that wakes people up to their better selves." Watch the full address. This year RISD presented two honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees to visionaries in contemporary culture. Photographer Annie Leibovitz and artist Cai Guo-Qiang accepted honorary degrees at the ceremony. Hanson Robotics founder and RISD alumnus David Hanson (RISD '96 Film/Animation/Video) was honored with the 2018 Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement. David Hanson | Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement + keynote speaker With a BFA in Film/Animation/Video from RISD and a PhD in interactive arts and engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, Hanson publishes regularly in materials science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and robotics journals, and has been featured in numerous popular media outlets including The New York Times, Popular Science, Scientific American, the BBC and CNN. Dubbed a "genius" by both PC Magazine and WIRED, he has earned awards from NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Cooper Hewitt, among many others. Cai Guo-Qiang | honorary degree Cai's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, which hosted the 2008 retrospective I Want to Believe. In 2012 he earned the prestigious Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association and was among five artists to reeive the first US Department of State Medal of Arts award for his commitment to international cultural exchange. In 2016 Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald further illuminated Cai's life and work in the Netflix documentary Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang. The artist is also the father of RISD alumna Wen-You Cai, who graduated in 2012 with a BFA in Sculpture. Annie Leibovitz | honorary degree Leibovitz has published several books and has exhibited widely. She is a Commandeur in the French government's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. Risë Wilson | graduate hooding speaker Wilson's work in arts and culture advocacy extends to previous roles at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, MoMA and Parsons. She holds a BA from Columbia University, where she was a Kluge Scholar, and an MA from NYU, where she was a MacCracken Fellow. RISD's joyous Commencement ceremony offers a festive culmination to years of creative exploration in the studio. Students traditionally transform their caps and gowns in idiosyncratic ways—by painting, reimagining and embellishing them to make a more personal artistic statement or simply to have fun with this colorful RISD tradition. For more information on RISD's 2018 Commencement and to view the ceremony streaming live on June 2, visit commencement.risd.edu. On Friday, June 1 social entrepreneur and community organizer Risë Wilson spoke at the Graduate hooding ceremony as part of Commencement celebrations. A series of exhibitions leading up to Commencement highlighted new work produced by graduating students, including the Senior Invitational Exhibition at Woods-Gerry Gallery, the RISD graduate thesis exhibition at the RI Convention Center, a selection of graduate student works at Sol Koffler Gallery and the Senior Film/Animation/Video Festival at the RISD Auditorium. A student-curated exhibition of undergraduate and graduate student work is also on view at the Gelman Student Exhibitions Gallery in the Chace Center. About Rhode Island School of Design
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