Ava DuVernay Earns Honorary Yale Degree Surrounding Lifetime Achievements
48-year-old filmmaker Ava DuVernay attained an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Yale University on May 22. The degree was awarded to her based on her creative successes in directing films and documentaries.
Per Because Of Them We Can, Yale University President Peter Salovey granted nine honorary doctorates at the 320th Commencement ceremony. Honorary degrees are given based on lifetime achievements rather than an institution’s usual academic requirements. One of these degrees went to Ava DuVernay for her influence in the TV and film industries. Salovey called her a “Hollywood Maverick” and addressed her contributions to the world in a virtual address. DuVernay excitedly announced her achievement on Instagram.
Smiling and holding up her degree, the filmmaker jokingly wrote, “My mom is over the moon and has taken to calling me Dr. DuVernay. Hope that wears off.” She then expressed that it was “A thrill to share this with the formidable Class of 2021 and my esteemed fellow honorees.”
Ava DuVernay rose to prominence with her 2012 feature film Middle of Nowhere and became the first Black woman to win the Best Director award at that year’s Sundance Film Festival. Her film about Martin Luther King Jr., Selma (2014), made her the first Black female Golden Globe nominee for Best Director. Her Academy Award-nominated film 13th (2016) highlighted the systemic racism in the U.S. prison system. DuVernay also became the first Black woman to direct a $100 million film with Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time (2018). In 2019, her Netflix series When They See Us was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.
Other recipients of an honorary doctorate were comedian Stephen Colbert and author Judy Blume. President Salovey said, “These degrees are the most significant distinction conferred by the Yale Corporation…to signal pioneering achievement in a field or conspicuous and exemplary contribution to the common good.”
Fans showed their support for DuVernay’s accolades on Twitter.
ava duvernay owns a special place in my heart
— cassia ♡ (@cassiaishot) May 25, 2021
A woman in film whom I admire has received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale University.
— Bridget Pervalle (@bridgetpervalle) May 25, 2021
🌹Go, Dr. Ava Duvernay! 🌹
Dr. DuVernay 👏🏿👏🏿@ava
— Thando (@lylianethando) May 25, 2021
Congratulations 🎉
Get a first look at Ava DuVernay’s upcoming series, Naomi on the CW, which she wrote and executive produced.
