2025 Alumni Achievement Award
Josh Gad is an actor, singer, comedian, writer and producer who has made a significant impact on popular culture through his roles in Broadway, film and television productions. His versatility as both a comedic and dramatic actor has earned him a reputation as a gifted performer whose work transcends genres and generations.
Josh is best known for voicing Olaf in the “Frozen” franchise, and for his roles in the original Broadway productions of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Gutenberg: The Musical!” He won two Annie Awards for his role as Olaf and received a Grammy Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his work in "The Book of Mormon.”
Josh has also starred in multiple TV series including “Wolf Like Me” on Peacock, "Avenue 5” on HBO, “The Comedians” on FX and “Central Park” on Apple, which he co-created and produced under his Angry Child Productions banner. On the big screen, he has starred in hit films such as “Murder on the Orient Express,” “The Wedding Ringer,” “Marshall,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “21,” “The Angry Birds” films and “Pixels.”
His upcoming projects include “Adulthood,” which is premiering at the Toronto film festival, a TV adaptation of “Stay Tuned,” the animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” and “Spaceballs 2,” which Josh is writing, producing and starring in.
In addition to his acting career, Josh has been involved in various philanthropic and advocacy projects. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched “Reunited Apart,” a YouTube series which reunited the casts of several popular movies and movie series via video conferencing. The series raised millions of dollars for various charitable organizations.
Josh is also a published author. He has written multiple books including the children’s book “PictureFace Lizzy,” a graphic novel “The Writer” and a memoir “In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some.”
Josh received a bachelor’s degree in drama from the College of Fine Arts in 2003. While at CMU, he produced and starred in three original musicals: "The Wizard of Oz: A One Man Show with Other People,” “Belle Reeve Come and Gone” and “Axis of E!” and starred in multiple other productions including the 2003 main stage performance of “The Skin of Our Teeth.” He continues to maintain a strong connection with Carnegie Mellon, engaging with the next generation of Tartan artists.
To be receiving this incredible honor nearly 22 years after graduating from this iconic program is nothing short of shocking. I am honored and humbled to stand alongside so many monumental figures who have also received this award and who have no doubt scored much higher on their SATs than me, and have presumably done more for mankind than voice a snowman. To my fellow honorees, I am confident one of you is smart enough to stop AI from killing all of us, so I am kindly asking you to consider creating a code that prevents "Terminator 2" from becoming a documentary. Thank you! And God bless the Tartans (whatever the hell they are).
Josh Gad