Graduation 2003

Media Contact:
Hayley Miller 
News Officer
Columbia Law School
212-854-2604

NEW LINE CINEMA'S ROBERT SHAYE '64 DELIVERS COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL'S 2003 GRADUATION ADDRESS

NEW YORK - Robert Shaye, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of New Line Cinema Corporation, delivered the keynote address at the graduation ceremonies for his alma mater, Columbia Law School, on Thursday, May 22, 2003 at 3:00 p.m. at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York.

Robert Shaye founded New Line Cinema in 1967, and has guided the company's growth from a privately held distributor of art films into one of the entertainment industry's leading independent motion picture production and distribution companies.

In 2002, the success of The Lord of the Rings films, as well as such releases as Blade II, John Q., Austin Powers in Goldmember and About Schmidt vaulted the studio into the number five position in both domestic and international market share for the year.

Shaye earned his degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and his J.D. degree from Columbia University Law School.

Highlights of the ceremony also included the receipt of the Willis L.M. Reese Prize for excellence in teaching by Robert Ferguson, the George Edward Woodberry Professor in Law, Literature, and Criticism at Columbia University. Prof. Ferguson has published two books and authored scores of articles, reviews, and review essays. He has also received numerous honor, prizes, and awards, and serves on various editorial boards. 

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