Actor Matt Czuchry ‘99, federal judge Bruce Howe Hendricks ’83 and artist Brian Rutenberg ‘87 will be the featured speakers during the 2018 College of Charleston Spring Commencement ceremonies.
These College of Charleston alumni will be delivering their addresses to the graduates during the three ceremonies in Cistern Yard on May 11 and 12, 2018.
Rutenberg will be addressing the graduates from the School of the Arts, the School of Education, Health and Human Performance, the School of Professional Studies and the Graduate School at 4 p.m. on May 11, 2018.
Hendricks will be giving the commencement address to the graduates of the School of Business and the School of Sciences and Mathematics at 10 a.m. on May 12, 2018.
Czuchry will speak to the graduates of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs during the 4 p.m. ceremony on May 12, 2018.
Honorary degrees will also be presented to:
- Philanthropists Eugene and Rose Gangarosa
- Charleston City Council Member Keith Waring
- Businesswoman, community leader and philanthropist Linda Ketner
Brian Rutenberg ’87
Widely considered to be one of the finest American painters of his generation, Rutenberg has spent 40 years honing a distinctive method of compressing the rich color and form of his native coastal South Carolina into complex landscape paintings that imbue material reality with a deep sense of place
He is a Fulbright Scholar, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, a Basil Alkazzi USA Award recipient and an Irish Museum of Modern Art visiting artist program participant. He has had over 200 exhibitions throughout North America.
Rutenberg received his B.F.A. from the College of Charleston in 1987 and his M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1989.
Bruce Howe Hendricks ’83
Hendricks is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. She is a former United States Magistrate Judge of the same court. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
On June 26, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Hendricks to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina to fill the vacancy left by Margaret Seymour. She was confirmed by the Senate on June 4, 2014, and received commission on June 5, 2014. Hendricks was rated “Unanimously Well Qualified” for the nomination by the American Bar Association.
In 2015 Hendricks was honored with the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumna Award.
Matt Czuchry ’99
Czuchry earned dual degrees in political science and history from the College. While a student at CofC, he was awarded the Bishop Robert Smith Award – the highest honor given a student at spring commencement in recognition of high levels of leadership and academic excellence.
Soon after graduating, he began his acting career and quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood staring in television shows such as Gilmore Girls and The Good Wife. Czuchry currently stars in the new Fox Network medical drama The Resident.
He has received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his work.
