April 11, 2014
Each year at its spring Commencement exercises, Columbia College Chicago confers honorary degrees on individuals whose record of outstanding achievement in the arts, education, public service, or journalism and the media exemplifies the college’s mission and core values.
Gordon Quinn, a documentary filmmaker and previous recipient of a Voqal Fund Grant, is one of five honorees slated to be recognized on May 17 and 18.
Gordon Quinn is the artistic director of Kartemquin Films, a documentary film company that he co-founded in 1966. He has served as the director, producer, or executive producer of dozens of documentaries, most notably the award-winning Hoop Dreams (1994). Kartemquin’s other films include A Good Man (2011), At the Death House Door (2008), Vietnam, Long Time Coming (1998), and the seven-hour series The New Americans (2004), which was broadcast on PBS. Quinn has helped to nurture the careers of numerous documentary filmmakers over the course of his career, and he is a dedicated advocate for public and community media.