FIT alumni Joe Zee and Ivy Ross will be the keynote speakers and receive honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s commencement on May 19.
Zee is editor in chief and executive creative director of Yahoo Style, and Ross is a jewelry designer, vice president at Google and head of its Project Aura, Glass and Beyond, where she leads a multidisciplinary team developing wearable technology.
Designer and FIT alumnus Francisco Costa and film producer Jane Rosenthal will each receive the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. Ruth Finley, founder of the Fashion Calendar, will receive the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The graduation will be held at the Javits Center North in New York. More than 2,700 students will be awarded associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in almost 50 areas of study, with 1,000 people attending commencement.
Ross will address students graduating from FIT’s School of Art and Design and School of Graduate Studies, which will be held at 10:30 a.m., and Zee will speak at the commencement exercises held at 3 p.m. for graduates of FIT’s Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology and School of Liberal Arts. Costa and Finley will receive their honorary degrees at the morning ceremony, and Rosenthal will receive her honorary degree at the afternoon ceremony.
Both the 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. commencement exercises will be live-streamed at fitnyc.edu/commencement.