Photo used under a Creative Commons license with zephyrbunny.

The Corcoran College of Art + Design will grant an honorary doctoral degree to celebrated fashion designer, Bravo icon, and favorite District son Tim Gunn. It won’t be the first Corcoran degree for Gunn, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sculpture in 1976. But it is the highest degree that the Corcoran can give.

“Given all the success that he has accomplished in the design world since, we wanted to honor him as one of our own,” said Dean Kirk Pillow.

After leaving the Corcoran, Gunn didn’t stay away from academia long. In 1982, he joined the staff at Parsons The New School for Design. Rising to the position of associate dean, Gunn is credited with bringing relevance and legitimacy to what was then a sagging fashion department.

This year’s Corcoran commencement will see 80 undergraduates and 30 graduates walk away with degrees in graphic design, photojournalism, fine art, and other concentrations. Gunn, who has given lectures in the past at the museum for its public program series, will see these students off as the commencement speaker. Pretty sure that it is not OK to crash a college commencement, but the die-hard Project Runway fan may find him in the vicinity of DAR Constitution Hall on May 23.

The Corcoran regularly bestows honorary degrees: usually one per year. Past recipients include photographer Sally Mann, designer Karim Rashid, and photographer Annie Leibovitz.