Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Receives Duke University Honorary Award

Nigeria’s literary icon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, recently added to her fleet of feats a honouree of the Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, on the occasion of the varsity’s 2018 Commencement Ceremony. The author is a recipient of the award alongside five others:

• General Motors Chairman and CEO, Mary Barra;
• former Durham Mayor, William Bell;
• Phil Freelon, lead architect for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture;
• Dr. William Kaelin, professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School;
• Russell M. Robinson II, attorney, community leader and philanthropist.

In his announcement of the award recipients for 2018, Duke’s 10^th President ―Price― said:

“Duke is proud to recognize the contributions that this distinguished group has made to society. They each have been bold leaders in their respective fields, and their work has enriched and improved our lives. I am delighted to have the honour of awarding their degrees, and I am certain that the graduating Class of 2018 will be inspired by their example.” — Vincent E. Price

It is also worthy of note that CNA, as Chimamanda is popularly called, only recently bagged the 2018 PEN Pinter Award― an achievement where Harold Pinter’s widow, Harold Fraser, described the Enugu-born author as a writer who embodies:

“those qualities of courage and outspokenness which Harold much admired.”