Gardner Museum Director to Give 90th Commencement Address
May 10, 2012
Anne Hawley, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will deliver the 2012 Commencement address at Emmanuel College's 90th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 12th. Ms. Hawley will receive an honorary degree for her civic involvement. In addition, the College will also award an honorary degree to Alexandra Oliver-Dávila '92 for her leadership in youth development in Boston.
Since becoming the director of the museum in 1989, Ms. Hawley has been instrumental in the restoration and preservation of the historic museum. Most recently she was the driving force behind the museum's $114 million expansion, including a new concert chamber, a gallery for the shows of the artists-in-residence, a restaurant and a lounge. A native of Iowa, Ms. Hawley moved to Massachusetts in 1974 and founded the Cultural Education Collaborative, an organization dedicated to stimulating arts education and arts public policy. She became the executive director of the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities in 1977 and in 1988 won the Lyman Ziegler Award for Outstanding Service to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hawley graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in English before earning a master's degree from George Washington University.
Ms. Alexandra Oliver-Dávila is the executive director of Sociedad Latina, a nonprofit organization located in Mission Hill that works with Latino youth and families to end destructive cycles of poverty, health inequities, and lack of educational and professional opportunities. Under the leadership of Ms. Oliver-Dávila, Sociedad Latina provides a comprehensive array of programming for over 3,000 youth and adults to build skills in education, workforce development, civic engagement, and arts & culture. Since Ms. Oliver-Dávila assumed the position of executive director in 1999, Sociedad Latina has tripled its operational budget and more than doubled the number of paid youth leader positions. She has also forged successful collaborations with Emmanuel and the other Colleges of the Fenway, eight hospitals in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Boston Public Schools, community centers, libraries and churches. Ms. Oliver-Dávila also led the formation of the Mission Hill Youth Collaborative and Mission Hill Jobs Collaborative and sits as co-chair of the Boston Youth Services Network (BYSN). She is a representative on the Workforce Investment Youth Council and a member of the Boston After School and Beyond Partnership Council. Ms. Oliver-Dávila received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Emmanuel College.
We look forward to welcoming our distinguished guests to campus as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Emmanuel College Class of 2012. For more information on Commencement, click here.
