List of awards and honors received by Maya Angelou
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African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was honored by universities, literary organizations, government agencies, and special interest groups. Her honors include a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie, a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play Look Away, and three Grammys from five nominations for her spoken-word albums. Beginning in 1982, Angelou held the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
She served on two presidential committees – for Gerald Ford in 1975 and for Jimmy Carter in 1977. In 2000, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. In 2010, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., by President Barack Obama. More than thirty health care and medical facilities have been named after Angelou. She was awarded more than 50 honorary degrees.
Awards
Honorary degrees
Smith College, 1975
Mills College, 1975
Lawrence University, 1976
Wake Forest University, 1977
Columbia College Chicago, 1979
Wheaton College, 1981
Boston College, 1983
Rollins College, 1985
Howard University, 1985
Tufts University, 1985
Mount Holyoke College, 1987
University of Southern California, 1989
Northeastern University, 1992
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1993
Lafayette College, 1999
Hope College, 2001
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003
Eastern Connecticut State University, 2003
Chapman University, 2007
Shenandoah University, 2008
University of Redlands, 2011
Citations
Works cited
Gillespie, Marcia Ann, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. Long. (2008).
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