Award Winning Creative Director David Korins to Be 2025 Commencement Speaker at UMass Amherst

Source: UMass News & Media

Award-winning creative director David Korins ’99 will present the keynote address at the 155th University of Massachusetts Amherst Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 16, at 5 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. He also will be presented with an honorary degree to celebrate his many achievements in 30 years of creating omnidirectional experiences for millions of people by helping brands, corporations and artists bring their stories to life.

Some 6,500 undergraduate students are expected to earn their degrees. And more than 20,000 people are expected to attend the 55th UMass Amherst Commencement ceremony at the stadium.

“David’s creativity and energy is boundless, and he embodies all the revolutionary, innovative spirit that are hallmark traits of UMass Amherst graduates,” Chancellor Javier Reyes said. “David’s approach to storytelling will impart important lessons to us all, especially as our future graduates begin to write their own stories as they embark on careers or future academic endeavors.”

“It’s a privilege to be asked to deliver the commencement address at any institution, but to get an opportunity to come home to my alma mater and connect directly with the graduating class of 2025 and the faculty is a true honor,” said Korins.

With the eponymous David Korins Studio he founded and leads, Korins’ extensive body of work spans various mediums – from stage to screen, museums to hospitality venues and exhibitions to live events. He has created the worlds for more than 25 Broadway shows, including the Tony Award-winning musicals “Hamilton,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Beetlejuice: The Musical.” Among numerous TV credits, Korins was the production designer for the 91st and 94th Annual Academy Awards, and “Grease: Live!,” for which he received an Emmy Award.

He was the creative director and designer of “The Hamilton Exhibition,” a 30,000-square-foot immersive experience chronicling Alexander Hamilton’s life. He also served as the global creative director and designer of “Van Gogh Exhibit: The Immersive Experience” and “Immersive Disney Animation,” along with creating “Stories,” a permanent walk-through experience at the World of Coca-Cola celebrating the brand’s 139-year history.

Korins is currently crafting experiences for The Georgia O’Keeffe and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museums. At Sotheby’s, he created several exhibitions and reimagined their global auction experience.

Additionally, Korins collaborated with artists like Bruno Mars, Andrea Bocelli and Lady Gaga, designed several restaurants and the Drama Bookshop, and was lead creative at Bonnaroo and Outside Lands music festivals. He had residences with TED Conferences and Twitter, is designing an arts center in Millbrook, N.Y., and is the director of David Blaine’s live show.

Stephen Driscoll to Receive Honorary Degree
The Hon. Stephen P. Driscoll is a 1973 graduate of UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in theater from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and was co-chair of its LGBT Caucus for 25 years.

With former Congressman Barney Frank, Driscoll co-founded the National Stonewall Democrats in 1996 and served as its board chair for 10 years. He was also the first openly gay member of the Electoral College. In addition to his career in politics, Driscoll taught dance and weight training at MIT for 15 years and, concurrently, was associate director and resident choreographer of the Opera Company of Boston and Opera New England. A proud member of Actors Equity Association, he returned to the UMass campus in 2014 to play Shylock in the Department of Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” a role he first played at age 14. For a decade, he was resident photographer at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, to which he recently gifted funds to construct an archive that now bears his name. Driscoll was also a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter and is credited with developing an international community of gay wrestlers, for which he was honored in 2024.

After many years of generous support to the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Driscoll established the Stephen P. Driscoll Musical Theater Endowment. The endowment will help fund the production of musical theater at UMass and prioritize collaborative productions with the Department of Music and Dance and the Department of Art. Driscoll is also on the British American Drama Academy’s board and funds a scholarship that assists theater students in attending its Midsummer in Oxford program.

In addition, the Hon. Stephen P. Driscoll Collection of Political Americana and Popular Culture is an endowment in support of his life-long collection, which includes thousands of election-related items from George Washington to Donald Trump, pro and con, as well as hundreds of frames of buttons regarding the Vietnam War, women’s issues, militaria, the environment, religion, the arts, social causes and more. Many pieces were on display in UMass Amherst’s Old Chapel in 2023–24.

Driscoll resides with Robert Tocci, his spouse of 46 years, in Pembroke, Massachusetts, and in Wilton Manors, Florida, where he grows a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. He continues his cancer battle, which began in 2008.

Distinguished Achievement Awards
UMass alumni Christine Savage and Dan Riccio will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards at the 155th Commencement.

Daniel J. Riccio Jr. ’86BS, ’24MS
Daniel J. Riccio Jr. has been a leader in designing, developing and engineering nearly all of Apple’s products for almost 30 years. In 2020, he transitioned from his role as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering to focus exclusively on Apple’s newest product category, spatial computing, and delivered the Apple Vision Pro – reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook as vice president of engineering. “Every innovation Dan has helped Apple bring to life has made us a better and more innovative company,” noted Cook.

Starting at Apple in June 1998 as director of desktop product design, Riccio and his team delivered the first iMac in August 1998 and the G3 Tower in January 1999. He quickly moved up the ranks at Apple, first overseeing portables product design, then all product design, for the company. After serving as vice president of the iPad division, Riccio was promoted to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, joining Apple’s executive team in 2012.

Prior to Apple, Riccio worked at Compaq in Houston from February 1997 as Senior Manager of Mechanical Engineering. He was responsible for the mechanical design for all its consumer PC business, elevating Compaq to the top spot in the global PC market.

His long, successful career began at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in Maynard, Massachusetts, in 1987, working in engineer management in power systems design and workstations and server designs, incorporating DEC’s Alpha CPU and high-end Intel microprocessors.

Riccio earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s degree in manufacturing engineering, both from UMass Amherst. Recently retired, he has been an active member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Engineering since 2023.

Christine G. Savage ’92
Christine G. Savage, Partner and Co-chair of the Government Enforcement and Compliance Group at Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, has nearly 30 years of experience assisting clients in navigating government or internal investigations and understanding their regulatory obligations. She collaborates with a diverse range of health-care services and life sciences companies facing legal challenges, striving not only to provide excellent legal advice but also working to preserve reputations, deliver value and facilitate her clients’ ability to focus on their patients or customers. Savage also has a lengthy history of working with premier academic institutions and their affiliated medical centers on matters related to research compliance, integrity and security. She is considered one of the nation’s leading subject matter experts in this area and speaks at national conferences, conducts webinars and writes articles about legal risk and risk mitigation strategies throughout the academic research enterprise.

Over the years, Savage has been recognized as a leading lawyer by the Legal 500 in Education and by Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers, Massachusetts Super Lawyers and Boston Magazine. In 2007, she was named one of Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40,” and, in 2010, she was named one of the “Top Women of Law” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Savage currently serves as a Director and the Secretary/Clerk for the UMass Amherst Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is a former Chair of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board. She established the Dr. Charles W. Solt and Doris J. Solt Scholarship at UMass Amherst in honor of her parents and to support out-of-state undergraduates pursuing studies in the social and behavioral sciences.