Explore the 2024 Commencement Ceremony
Commencement Livestream
Otis College's 2024 Commencement ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at the Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College in Torrance, CA.
Meet Otis College’s 2024 Honorary Degree Recipients
Otis College has a long standing tradition of awarding honorary degrees to influential artists, designers, and thinkers. This year, we are thrilled to announce that acclaimed visual artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby will receive an honorary degree and deliver this year’s commencement address. Los Angeles–based architect and urban planner Janet Marie Smith will also be awarded an honorary degree during the ceremony.
Held on Sunday, May 12, 2024, the commencement ceremony is the culmination of O-Launch, the College’s end-of-year celebration of graduating students that includes a campus-wide annual exhibition and fashion show, taking place May 10-11.
2024 Honorary Degree Recipients
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Akunyili Crosby is known for work that “negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenge of occupying these two worlds” (The Smithsonian). Akunyili Crosby graduated in 2004 from Swarthmore College, where she studied art and biology as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. After considering a future in medicine, she decided to pursue art so she could share her experience as a Nigerian of the diaspora through her work. Akunyili Crosby received her MFA from Yale University School of Fine Art in 2011 and was selected as artist-in-residence at the highly regarded Studio Museum in Harlem, which is known for its support of emerging African artists. In 2015, the Hammer Museum at UCLA presented her first solo exhibition. That same year her work was exhibited at Art + Practice in Los Angeles. In 2016, Akunyili Crosby was named one of the Women of the Year by Financial Times and in 2017 she was awarded the prestigious Genius Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In 2023, Akunyili Crosby was the Mandy and Cliff Einstein Visiting Artist at Otis College, where she spent time in dialogue with Otis students and delivered a free public lecture.
Janet Marie Smith
Smith is Executive Vice President of Planning and Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers and founder of Canopy, a consulting business built around civic sports and urban development. The Dodgers are one of four MLB teams that has been proud to call her an executive of the club, one of the first women in such a senior front office position. Trained as an architect and urban planner, she is renowned for her influence on the last generation of sports and entertainment venues and their relationships to their respective cities. She has overseen the design, renovation, and development for major league baseball parks in Baltimore, Atlanta, Boston, and Los Angeles. With her role in the creation of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992, Smith ushered in a new way of thinking about sports with a focus on urban design, architecture, and graphic design. Camden Yards featured elements drawn from the classic era of ballparks while incorporating modern elements and building techniques. The Dodgers’ renovations have celebrated the mid-century modern styles that were crafted in Southern California. Smith earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in urban planning from The City University of New York. Prior to her work in baseball, she led and managed several civic projects in Los Angeles and New York. In 2019, Smith was named one the “30 Most Powerful Women in Sports” by AdWeek.
2023 Honorary Degree Recipients
Miky Lee
Vice Chairwoman
CJ Group
Kulapat Yantrasast
Architect and Designer
2022 Honorary Degree Recipients
Miranda Kerr
Founder and CEO
KORA Organics
Evan Spiegel
Co-Founder and CEO
Snap INC.
Bobby Berk
Design Expert
Emmy-Nominated TV Host