Esteemed Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Is The Keynote Speaker At The 2018 NYU Tisch School Of The Arts Salute

The NYU Tisch School of the Arts today announced Ruth E. Carter as the honored keynote speaker at its Salute to the Class of 2018. Carter will address 1,471 graduating undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate students on May 18, 2018, 11am - 1:30pm EST, at Radio City Music Hall.

"Ruth Carter is a prolific costume designer and history maker. Her work has been seen in some of our country's most important films, and to have her speak to our graduates at this moment in their careers, is our great privilege," Allyson Green, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts, said.

Ruth E. Carter's unparalleled ability to develop an authentic story through costume and character has made her one of the most sought after and renowned costume designers today. She has garnered two Academy Award nominations for "Best Costume Design," for Spike Lee's Malcolm X(1993) - which made her the first African-American to be nominated in that category - and Steven Spielberg's Amistad(1998). She also earned an Emmy nomination for the reboot of Roots(2016).

Carter has worked in the industry for over three decades and has been credited with over forty films and counting. She has collaborated with Spike Lee on over a dozen films beginning with School Daze(1988) and including Do The Right Thing (1989), and Old Boy (2013).

Known for her research and diligence to the craft, specifically for her outstanding work for period ensemble films like the highly praised Lee Daniels' The Butler(2013) and Ava DuVernay's Selma (2014), Carter most recently worked on Ryan Cooglar's Black Panther(2018) and Reginald Hudlin'sMarshall(2017). Last fall, she completed work on Season 1 of Yellowstone(2018), an upcoming television series starring Kevin Costner and directed by Taylor Sheridan. She is currently working on Dolemite, starring Eddie Murphy, and Season 2 of Yellowstone.

Salute is an affectionate farewell tribute from the faculty and staff of the Tisch School of the Arts to the graduating class. Unlike typical graduation ceremonies, in which each student is called to the stage individually, Salute instead celebrates our students' achievements through live performances and features words of wisdom from our dean, a distinguished keynote speaker, a member of the graduating class, and department chairs.

The Tisch Salute to the Class of 2018 will be held at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, May 18, 2018, 11am - 1:30pm EST. The ceremony will be available via livestream here.

About the NYU Tisch School of the Arts
For over 50 years, the NYU Tisch School of the Arts has drawn on the vast artistic and cultural resources of New York City and New York University to create an extraordinary training ground for the individual artist and scholar of the arts. Today, students learn their craft in a spirited, risk-taking environment that combines the professional training of a conservatory with the liberal arts education of a premier global university with campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, and 11 academic centers around the world. Learn more at tisch.nyu.edu.