Best-selling English author Neil Gaiman, whose dark fantasy tales and graphic novels have won him Newbery and Carnegie Medals as well as Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards, will deliver the keynote address at the 134th Commencement of the University of the Arts. The award-winning author of the graphic novel series The Sandman and gothic horror/fantasy novel Coraline will also receive an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts (HDFA).

Additional honorees include this year's other HDFA recipient, Tony Auth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former editorial cartoonist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, and alumnae Hilary Clark BFA '98 (Modern Dance) and Alina Wheeler BFA '70 (Illustration), who will each receive the Silver Star Alumni Award.

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The 134th Commencement will take place on Thursday, May 17 at 10:30 a.m. at the Academy of Music on Philadelphia's famed Avenue of the Arts. Don't miss the live webcast, which will begin shortly before the start of the ceremony.

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