The American Film Institute will confer a Doctorate of Fine Arts degree honoris causa for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image upon trailblazing actress and producer Viola Davis and legendary film editor and sound designer Walter Murch. Davis and Murch will be recognized during the AFI Conservatory’s commencement ceremony celebrating the Class of 2025 on Friday, August 8, 2025, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

“Viola Davis and Walter Murch – both masters of their craft – symbolize the standard of excellence AFI was founded to celebrate,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “Their contributions to the art form have inspired audiences around the world – as they will inspire this year’s graduates of the AFI Conservatory.”

Davis is a critically revered actress of film, television and theater and has earned EGOT status.  Her extensive career includes her Academy Award^®-winning role in FENCES, her Emmy^®-winning role for HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, her Tony Award-winning roles for “Fences” and “King Hedley II” and a Grammy Award for the recording of her memoir “Finding Me.”

Murch is an Academy Award^®-winning master editor and sound designer who began his career editing sound on Francis Ford Coppola’s THE RAIN PEOPLE in 1969. Murch earned his first Academy Award^® nomination for THE CONVERSATION in 1974, was awarded his first Oscar^® for APOCALYPSE NOW in 1979. In 1996, he won an unprecedented double Oscar^® for Best Sound and Best Film Editing for THE ENGLISH PATIENT.

Film and television legends Davis and Murch join a distinguished group of past AFI Honorary Degree recipients, including Robert Altman, Maya Angelou, Saul Bass, Angela Bassett, Kathryn Bigelow, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Anne V. Coates, Jamie Lee Curtis, Clint Eastwood, Roger Ebert, Nora Ephron, Jodie Foster, Lesli Linka Glatter, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Kasdan, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Quentin Tarantino, Lily Tomlin, Robert Towne, Cicely Tyson, Haskell Wexler, John Williams and Michelle Yeoh.

About Viola Davis

Viola Davis is a critically revered artist, activist, producer, philanthropist, and New York Times best-selling author. Davis has earned EGOT status through her Oscar^®, Emmy^®, Grammy, and multi-Tony Award wins.  She was honored in 2017 by Time 100 as one of the world’s most influential people, in 2022, was honored with the Public Counsel’s William O. Douglas Award for her commitment to social justice causes and in 2025 received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. Davis has partnered with multiple programs to eradicate childhood hunger in the United States. She started the Davis-Tennon Foundation, which is committed to driving meaningful change by funding initiatives that address critical needs within Rhode Island communities

In 2012, Davis and her husband Julius Tennon founded their production company, JuVee Productions, with its focus on giving a voice to the voiceless through strong, impactful narratives. JuVee creates scripted and non-scripted television, film, documentary, theater, and digital immersive content for global audiences. It remains at the forefront of innovation, while developing and producing a library of socially relevant entertainment, defined by inclusion. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Davis received an Honorary Doctorate during its 109th Commencement Ceremony and she also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from her alma mater, Rhode Island College.

About Walter Murch

Born in New York City in 1943, Walter Murch is a pioneering film editor, sound designer, writer, and director. His 56-year career in features began in 1969 with Francis Coppola’s THE RAIN PEOPLE and includes work on THX 1138, THE GODFATHER trilogy, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, THE CONVERSATION, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, RETURN TO OZ , COLD MOUNTAIN —and many other iconic films, working with directors such as George Lucas, Fred Zinnemann, Philip Kaufman, Anthony Minghella, Kathryn Bigelow, Sam Mendes and Brad Bird.

Murch revolutionized sound design, becoming the first person credited as a Sound Designer in the 1979 Palme d’Or winner APOCALYPSE NOW. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards^® (six for picture editing and three for sound) and has won three Oscars^®: for best sound on APOCALYPSE NOW (for which he and his collaborators devised the now-standard 5.1 sound format), and for Best Film Editing and Best Sound for his work on THE ENGLISH PATIENT. This unprecedented double win in 1997 made history at the Oscars^®, following his earlier double BAFTA wins for Best Sound and Best Picture Editing in 1974 for THE CONVERSATION. THE ENGLISH PATIENT was also the first digitally edited film to win an editing Oscar.