2008 Honorary Doctorate Recipients
Edna Andrade (1917-2008)
Edna Andrade was a faculty member at The University of the Arts for morethan 30 years, a leading practitioner of Optical Art, and a beloved teacher and mentor. She passed away on April 17, 2008 at the age of 91. As a painter, Professor Andrade began as a realist, but in the late 1950s ventured into geometrical abstraction that created stunning optical effects.
Late in her life she moved away from abstraction and returned to realism. Her paintings, drawings and prints are owned by the Philadelphia Museumof Art, the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY; the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Mass.; the Yale University Art Gallery; and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
She began her career as an art teacher in Norfolk, VA, public schools and later taught at Tulane University. Professor Andrade moved to Philadelphiain 1946, and during the late 1940s and ‘50s, she did freelance drafting forarchitects, including plans for Philadelphia’s airport. She had her first major solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1954, and was hired at Philadelphia College of Art, now UArts, in 1958. She retired from teaching in Spring 1982 and was named a distinguished Professor Emerita at Commencement in 1982. Professor Andrade passed away on April 17, 2008.
Ira Brind
Ira Brind was first elected to the Board of the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (PCPA) in 1976 and eventually became President of that Board. He was one of the principal institutional leaders who first envisioned the comprehensive arts university that
would become The University of the Arts, leading the efforts to merge PCPA and the Philadelphia College of Art and to subsequently establish the University. Mr. Brind is currently Vice Chairman of the Board and has led two of the University’s presidential searches. He has endowed financial aid funds that support students in the Schools of Theater Arts and Music.
Mr. Brind is president of Brind Investments Inc., and is an investment advisor for North Castle Partners and CMS Companies. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he is the former CEO of Brind Leasing Corporation and of McDonnell Douglas Truck Services Corp. He also founded Brind, Lindsay & Co. Inc., a private equity investment company.
Mr. Brind currently serves as the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trusteesof Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Wistar Institute (former Chair of the Board), The Connelly Foundation, Thomas Jefferson University, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Jefferson Health System.
Miguel Angel Corzo
Miguel Angel Corzo, Ph.D., is president and CEO of The Colburn School in Los Angeles. Prior to taking the post in July, 2007, he served for seven years as president of The University of the Arts. During that time, the University added two new residence halls, updated and expanded its technology, and significantly increased enrollment and fund raising.
Dr. Corzo served as director of the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, where he developed projects in over 40 countries. He is the recipient of UNESCO’S distinguished Medal of Patron of the Arts, has been awarded the Gabarrón International Prize for Conservation, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lecce in Italy.
A Mexican-born U.S. citizen, Dr. Corzo has served as Under-Secretary of State at the Mexican Ministry of Tourism and as founding dean for Academic Affairs at the Metropolitan University there. He is the author or editor of 21 books, the producer of 15 television documentaries on arts and culture, and has organized 16 museum exhibitions around the world.