Honoring Outstanding Alumni
The RISD Alumni Association will honor these outstanding alumni in-person at Commencement + Reunion Weekend (June 4–5, 2021).
Key is an artist, designer and writer currently teaching at Cooper Union, where he served as the Frank Staton Chair in Graphic Design in 2018-19. He is co-founder and design director at Codify Art, a multidisciplinary collective dedicated to creating, producing, supporting and showcasing work by artists of color—particularly women, queer and trans artists of color. Key was selected for Forbes’ 2020 30 Under 30 Art & Style list. His work has been featured at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery NYC and the Armory Show, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post and the Atlantic.
Key receives the Emerging Leader Award, which honors alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years; have made significant achievements and contributions to their profession and/or community; think boldly, mindfully and creatively; and who helped to create new fields of study or contributed to fundamental change in their area of practice.
el-Khoury is dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture. He leads RAD-UM, a research lab for embedded technology and robotics aiming at enhancing responsiveness and resilience in buildings and smart cities. The work of his firm, Khoury Levit Fong, has won international awards. He has shared his work through teaching, visiting professorships and lectures at dozens of institutions around the world.
el-Khoury receives the Art and Design Educator Award, recognizing alumni who demonstrate exceptional skill as an educator or a clear commitment to the field of art + design education, and are recognized by their peers and students as having shown those qualities that most encourage students to learn and thrive creatively.
Attar is a Syrian American architect and writer from Aleppo. She runs Karam Foundation, a nonprofit organization that invests in young Syrian refugees and their communities through innovative education and leadership development. She serves as chair of the board of The Syria Campaign and was named one of Worth magazine’s “Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World.”
Attar receives the RISD Serves Award, given to alumni who have achieved distinction through significant contributions and voluntary service to improving the lives of others over a sustained period of time. The award recognizes the values of service and civic responsibility that reflect RISD’s core values.
Walker is best known for her candid investigation of race, gender, sexuality and violence through silhouetted figures. She is the recipient of many awards, notably the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Achievement Award in 1997 and the United States Artists Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship in 2008. Walker is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (elected 2012) and the American Philosophical Society (elected 2018). She was named an Honorary Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2019.
Walker receives the Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf Award, the RISD Alumni Association’s highest award, which honors Helen Metcalf, the founder of RISD, her visionary spirit and civic generosity. The award recognizes alumni who have achieved outstanding distinction in their life’s work in a professional field, or in community, public or humanitarian service. The achievements of the awardee should be inspirational to RISD students, demonstrating exemplary accomplishments in their professional and civic lives, and bring honor and pride to RISD.
Selecting Awardees
The Awards Committee issues an annual call for nominations to the RISD community, reviews the nominations, gathers more information as necessary and chooses the recipients. Because so many alumni are engaged in creative and impactful work around the world, the process is very competitive. A special thanks goes to Daria Askari 05 PH and the members of the committee for their excellent work. Please visit alumni.risd.edu/alumni-awards for more information about the program.
Written by June Lee, CASE intern
