Pratt Institute will honor four distinguished alumni on September 25, 2009 at a private luncheon held on Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. Award recipients include Michael Inman, curator of rare books at The New York Public Library; Robert Sabuda, award-winning children’s book illustrator and author; Mickalene Thomas, critically-acclaimed painter; and Young Woo, founder and principal of Young Woo & Associates and Pratt Trustee.

Michael Inman, who received a master’s degree in library and information science in 2002, is curator of rare books for The New York Public Library, administers the Rare Book Division, George Arents Collection, and Historic Children’s Book Collection, among others. He also serves as a visiting professor at Pratt’s School of Information and Library Science, teaching courses on printing history and special collections librarianship.

Robert Sabuda, who received a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1987, is twice a recipient of The New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and a children’s book creator with over five million books in print, among them the Encyclopedia Prehistorica (Candlewick, 2005) pop-up trilogy, co-created with Matthew Reinhart, M.I.D.’98. Sabuda, who initiated Pratt’s paper engineering program, makes regular television appearances on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and the Martha Stewart Show.

Mickalene Thomas, who received a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2000, is best known for work that celebrates female beauty and power. In elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, enamel, and acrylic, Thomas’s critically acclaimed work introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty. Her work may be seen at the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, among other venues.

Young Woo, a 1980 graduate of the Pratt School of Architecture and Pratt Trustee, is founder and principal of Young Woo & Associates, LLC, developers of commercial, industrial, and technology real estate properties throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. The firm played a leading role in the acquisition of the AIG headquarters building in lower Manhattan and recently was designated as the developer for the historic Pier 57.