Violinist Midori was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (Mus.D.) by Yale University on Monday, 21 May 2012, in recognition of her accomplishments as musician, educator, and community engagement activist. Since 1702, Yale has conferrred honorary degrees in order to recognize individuals of extraordinary accomplishment and service.
"It is thrilling to receive this honorary doctorate from Yale University," says Midori, "and it is truly humbling to contemplate the company I'm in! I started out playing music because of the joy it brings to our lives, but in my work I am also discovering every day the power music has to heal, to educate, to stimulate the human mind in multiple dimensions. It is deeply gratifying and inspiring to know that Yale recognizes and values this work."
Among Midori's fellow recipients of Yale's honorary degrees in the 310 years since the inception of the program are Benjamin Franklin (1753), Noah Webster (1823), Samuel F.B. Morse (1846), Charles Ives (1874), Nikola Tesla (1894), Ignace Jan Paderewski (1917), Marie Curie (1921), Willa Cather (1929), Fiorello LaGuardia (1940), Felix Frankfurter (1961), Jean Piaget (1970), Stephen Hawking (1989), Mario Vargas Llosa (1994) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2003).
This year, Midori joins eight other honorands whose work has made a significant impact in one of the ten fields in which Yale awards honorary degrees:
Aaron Beck M.D., Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, UPENN
Doctor of Medical Sciences, father of cognitive therapy
Robert Darnton, Professor of History and University Librarian, Harvard University
Doctor of Humanities, eminent historian
Robert Gates, Former U.S. Defense Secretary
Doctor of Humane Letters, career public servant and historian
Jane Lubchenco, Environmental scientist and marine ecologist; NOAA Administrator
Doctor of Science, coastal marine ecologist
Margaret H. Marshall, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
Doctor of Laws, distinguished jurist and pioneer in judicial reform
Angelika Neuwirth, Professor of Arabic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
Doctor of Divinity, renowned Quran scholar
Richard Wilbur, Poet
Doctor of Letters, former poet laureate of the U.S.
William Julius Wilson, Professor of Sociology, Harvard University
Doctor of Social Science, influential sociologist
News
May 24, 2012
Midori Receives Honorary Doctorate from Yale University (May 2012)