End of Year Celebration 2025: Graduation Remarks & End of Year Show

Beginning with remarks from ID alum Ron Clark and student speakers Azra Sungu (PhD 2024) and Daniela Velez (MDes + MPA 2025), the event also launches our annual End of Year Show (EOYS), an exhibition of recent student work. Tickets are available for either or both segments of the program (details below).

Commencement is a separate ceremony on Saturday, May 17.

The theme for End of Year Show 2025 is In Tension Intention. Our show explores the transformative power of design in a world charged with both internal and external pressures. This exhibition draws on a broader thematic inquiry, one that resonates through varied approaches by Institute of Design students and prompting the question:

What possibilities emerge when we embrace tension as a generative force?

Join us in celebrating our ID students as they step confidently into the future—driven by intention, and prepared to spark innovation, foster growth, and create meaningful change.

Our EOYS website will launch on Friday, May 16 at 6p CST. View past years here.

Program

ID’s 2025 End of Year Celebration is part reflection, part exhibition, and part reception:

6pm: Graduation Remarks (Streaming Available)

• Shari Jones, Director of Student Success, ID
• Anijo Mathew, Dean, ID
• Alum Speaker Ron Clark
• Distinguished Student Speakers Azra Sungu & Daniela Velez

7:30pm: End of Year Show (EOYS) Opening & End of Year Reception

• Introduction from ID faculty Tomoko Ichikawa and Marty Thaler
  Self-Led Tours
• Toast recent graduates and celebrate the work that all ID students have achieved over the 2024–25 academic year!

About the Speakers

Ron Clark is Partner and Vice President of Strategic Design at BCG X, the digital build arm for Boston Consulting Group. He focuses on helping Fortune 100 clients successfully navigate digital transformation. Ron has over 20 years of experience in helping organizations envision and build new products and services and has held design leadership roles at Doblin, Sony Design, and BMW Designworks. He has a MFA from California Institute of the Arts and a BS in Product Design from the Institute of Design.

Azra Sungu (PhD 2024) is a Fulbright doctoral scholar, designer, and visual artist dedicated to elevating the collective wisdom and creativity of changemakers tackling complex social and ecological challenges. Her work centers on narratives as mechanisms by which societies make sense of, envision and negotiate systems change. Her research provides a compass for engaging with narratives in design practice to leverage their capacity to surface diverse perspectives, disrupt entrenched mindsets, and foster radical possibilities. As a researcher at the Food Systems Action Lab at ID and a food justice advocate, Azra collaborates with various communities and organizations in the pursuit of more sustainable, equitable, and just food systems.

Daniela Velez (MDes + MPA 2025) is a Colombian designer who harnesses the transformative power of design to create meaningful social impact. With expertise spanning design and public administration, she brings a unique perspective to complex challenges, driven by the belief that change should occur by design, not by disaster. Through strategic thinking and human-centered approaches, she works to understand people deeply, uncover root causes, and craft sustainable solutions that build a more equitable and just future.

Tickets

Portions of this event will be available both in-person and online as listed below. Note our different ticket types:

• In-Person: Graduation Remarks + EOYS + Reception (6p CST)
• Virtual: Graduation Remarks (6p CST)