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OLYMPIA DUKAKIS TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT
Tom Wolfe Will Deliver the Commencement Address
(Boston, Mass.) - Actress and School for the Arts alumna Olympia Dukakis will receive an honorary degree at Boston University's 127th commencement exercises on Sunday, May 21, at 11 a.m. at Nickerson Field. Later in the afternoon, at 4 p.m., she will address the School for the Arts convocation at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue.
"Olympia Dukakis is a gifted and inspiring actress of extraordinary versatility," says SFA Dean Bruce MacCombie. "Whether on stage, screen, or in the classroom, she brings to her work an extraordinary honesty, commitment, and joy. She challenges herself and others to push beyond any limitations to discover what is real and essential in each role. We are extremely pleased and proud to have her return to Boston University to receive an honorary degree."
During a career that spans more than 35 years, Olympia Dukakis has worked as an actress, director, producer, teacher, and activist. She received an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, the New York Film Critics Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics, and the Golden Globe Award for her work in the Norman Jewison film Moonstruck.
Other film credits include Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, Steel Magnolias directed by Herbert Ross, I Love Trouble with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts, and Mr. Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfus.
Her heart, however, has long been in the theatre and Dukakis has received Obie Awards for Bertolt Brecht's A Man's a Man and Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Her stage career has included numerous Broadway productions, such as Social Security, directed by Mike Nichols, The Aspern Papers, Who's Who in Hell, and Night of the Iguana. Dukakis has appeared in more than 125 Off-Broadway and regional productions, including performances at Studio Arena in Albany and the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she served as Associate Director.
Dukakis made her London debut in 1999 on stage at the Royal National Theatre in Martin Sherman's one-woman play, Rose, which is currently playing to packed houses in a limited Broadway run through May 20.
Also active out of the limelight, Dukakis taught acting at New York University for fifteen years and currently teaches master classes at colleges and universities throughout the country. She is also founding member of Voices of the Earth and The National Museum of Women in the Arts, and a popular speaker at women's expos and conferences throughout the country.
Dukakis graduated from Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in 1953 and received her Master of Fine Arts in acting from the Boston University School for the Arts in 1957.
The Boston University School for the Arts has an enrollment of over 1,000 students in the Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts divisions. The school features a faculty respected for their professional achievements as well as their teaching abilities augmented by master classes from celebrated professionals. The School for the Arts counts among its alumni nationally acclaimed artists in all three disciplines. Students and faculty present over 400 performances annually, many of them free, which are open to the general public.
Also receiving honorary degrees at Boston University Commencement are writer Tom Wolfe, who will also deliver the commencement address during the morning ceremony, President of Smith College Dr. Ruth Simmons, Boston developer Norman Leventhal, and Chelsea City Manager Guy Santagate.
This year, the entire Boston University commencement, and the School for the Arts convocation will be webcast. To view the ceremonies, visit the BU Commencement website at http://www.bu.edu/commencement
Photographs of Dukakis and other BU commencement speakers are available at http://bu.edu/photo/POST007/index.html
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May 15, 2000
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