Award-winning Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and 8 others received an honorary degree from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, United States.
Chimamanda Adichie, groundbreaking filmmaker, Spike Lee, a Nobel Prize winner, and Maryland's first woman to become an administrative Circuit Court judge are among eight distinguished achievers who received Johns Hopkins University honorary degrees.
At the university-wide commencement ceremony, Adichie was conferred with a honorary degree in celebration of her work as a successful writer and her role as a visionary.
“My advice to the graduating seniors,” Adichie says in a video released by the university yesterday, “is eat real food as often as you can and embrace ignorance. Say those words, “I don’t know” because by embracing ignorance, you open up the possibility of knowledge.”
Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J Daniels says the group are “visionaries who have challenged the status quo and changed the world for the better”.
“They have made a lasting impact on the arts, public health, the law, neuroscience, and the resilience of communities here in Baltimore and across the globe,” he continued. “At Johns Hopkins, we share their commitment to innovate and to work for the benefit of humankind, and I’m so pleased that these honorary degrees will celebrate all they have accomplished.”
In 2003, Adichie was a student at Johns Hopkins University, finishing up a masters degree in creative writing. That same year, she published her first novel, Purple Hibiscus.
Since Johns Hopkins was there when it all started, it is only fitting that they should recognize her life’s work and celebrate her accomplishments in the highest way possible.
Watch the video of her advising graduating students above.
READ: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to receive prestigious honorary degree tomorrow