Sir Jony Ive is now Dr. Jony Ive, thanks to one of the most prestigious universities in the U.K., which gave Apple’s design guru an honorary doctorate in science.
The University of Cambridge honored seven of the U.K.’s most distinguished individuals with the highest honor the school can bestow to outsiders in a special ceremony this week. Leaders in fields from computer science to sports were among the honorees during the Cambridge ceremony, but none were quite as distinguished as Jony Ive.
In an announcement commemorating the honorees, Cambridge praised Ive for his work designing personal computers.
“The man credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers as Apple’s chief designer was also honoured. A doctorate in science was conferred on Sir Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, in recognition of his impact on the world of computing and in making technology approachable through design.”
This is the first of two honorary doctorate degrees the Apple design chief is set to collect this month, as Cambridge’s rival Oxford plans to honor Ive with a doctorate of science next week alongside nine other prominent U.K. scientists, musicians and philosophers.