Duke University confers honorary degree on Chimamanda Adichie

Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has received an honorary degree from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Adichie shared photos of the honour ceremony via her Facebook page.

She was among the few recipients of the honorary degree from the university and they were all described as “people making changes in the world in very extensive ways.”

The president of Duke University, Vincent Price, had earlier in March confirmed that the Americanah author was on the list of recipients.

Adichie received the award alongside Marry Bara, Chairman of General Motors, Phil Freelon, lead architect for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Other recipients were: Former Durham Mayor William Bell, William Kaelin, professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Russell M. Robinson II, attorney, community leader and philanthropist.

The honour has further enriched Adichie’s richly adorned cap of trophy in recent times.

Earlier in March, her book Americanah was recognised as one of 15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way fiction was being written and read in the 21st century.

Adichie has been featured repeatedly in the New York Times, including being a part of the magazine’s ‘Greats’ List in 2017.

In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant and was described in The Times Literary Supplement as “the most prominent” of a procession of globally acclaimed young anglophone authors, among other recognitions.

(NAN)