Rihanna to Receive Honorary Doctorate From The University of the West Indies

Rihanna will soon be able to add another title to her résumé.

The global superstar will receive an Honorary Doctor of Letters from The University of the West Indies (UWI). RiRi will be honored during a ceremony scheduled for Oct. 20 at the Cave Hill Campus in her native Barbados.

As the largest higher education provider in the Caribbean, UWI awards honorary degrees to leaders in the arts, sciences, and other fields of intellectual endeavor, as well as to those who have made outstanding regional or international contributions.

RiRi will be recognized alongside the Honorable Justice Adrian Dudley Saunders and Professor Ebenezer Oduru Owusu, who will receive Honorary Doctors of Law and Sciences.

This is not Rihanna’s first honor from an academic institution. Last year, she received Harvard’s prestigious Humanitarian of the Year award for her philanthropic work through her Clara Lionel Foundation. “I’m incredibly humbled by this,” she said while accepting the award. “To be acknowledged at this magnitude, for something that, in truth, I’ve never wanted credit for.”

The 30-year-old singer is reportedly working on a dancehall album that explores her Caribbean roots, and has over 500 songs with collaborators including R. City, Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor, Kranium, and Supa Dups.