This Is Tisch! to Honor Brian Grazer and Ron Howard

New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts’ annual This Is Tisch! gala will be held November 2, 2009 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Lincoln Center. The prestigious school, ushering in its fifth decade, certainly has cause to celebrate: Its alumni have amassed 75 Emmys, 22 Tonys and 20 Oscars, among other major awards. In addition, dean Mary Schmidt Campbell received her own acclaim earlier this year when she accepted President Obama’s appointment as vice chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

“Our faculty of outstanding working artists and scholars,” says Campbell, “who bring their incomparable experience into the classroom, and our commitment to attracting and retaining the most talented students regardless of their ability to pay, are just some of the reasons why the Tisch school and its graduates continue to flourish.”

This year’s soiree will honor Brian Grazer, the Academy Award-winning producer of films like A Beautiful Mind and Apollo13, and director Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons). Marcia Gay Harden, a Tisch alumnus, will also be honored for her work both on stage and screen. Harden is known best for her work in Mystic River and her Oscar-winning performance in 2000’s Pollock. Arts philanthropist Diana King and president of HBO Documentary Films Sheila Nevins will also be honored.

The gala will be hosted by Tisch’s own class of 1989 graduate Kristen Johnston and scheduled presenters include Tony Kushner, Spike Lee, Richard Pleper and Sir Howard Stringer.

More information on the This Is Tisch! gala can be found at www.TischGala.com.