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Artist News Awards
Rihanna named Harvard’s Humanitarian Of The Year
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 24 February 2017
Well, Rihanna may not have won any Grammys this year, but she is now a recognised humanitarian, which is probably better. The singer has just been named Harvard University’s Humanitarian Of The Year, no less.
“Rihanna has charitably built a state-of-the-art centre for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados”, said Harvard Foundation director S Allen Counter, explaining the decision to give Rihanna the prize.
“She has also created the Clara and Lionel Foundation Scholarship Program [named for her grandmother and grandfather] for students attending college in the US from Caribbean countries, and supports the Global Partnership For Education and Global Citizen Project, a multi-year campaign that will provide children with access to education in over 60 developing countries, giving priority to girls and those affected by lack of access to education in the world today”.
So, yeah, that’s quite a lot of stuff isn’t it? I gave someone a tenner for Movember though, so let’s not forget that.
Past winners of Havard’s humanitarian accolade include youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, anti-child labour activist Kailash Satyarthi, and no less than four UN Secretaries General – Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.
Rihanna will accept her prize at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre on Tuesday.
