Duke university to honour Nooyi, Oprah

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Washington: India-born Pepsico chairperson Indra Nooyi and talk show host Oprah Winfrey are among eight persons who will be awarded honorary degrees by Duke University during the school's May 10 commencement exercises.

The commencement will also feature an address by Winfrey, Duke president Richard H. Brodhead announced Wednesday.Other recipients are economist-educator Susan Athey, Nobel geneticists Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein as a team, higher education leader James Moeser, Nobel chemist Mario Molina and pianist Murray Perahia.

"Each of these men and women represent the best and brightest in their respective fields, and it is our honour at Duke to recognise them for their enormous contributions to society," Brodhead said.

"Indra is a world-class executive who rose from humble roots in India to succeed in a corporate world dominated by white males," said Victor J Dzau, chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and a member of the PepsiCo board of directors.

"She is an impressive and inspirational leader, a visionary and a strategic thinker who has played a key role in PepsiCo's success and in shaping PepsiCo's future," Dzau said.

Before joining PepsiCo, a $40 billion food and beverage company in 1994, Nooyi established her prominence as a top business executive, leading corporate strategy at Motorola and ABB and directing strategic projects for companies while at Boston Consulting Group, the announcement noted.

Nooyi earned a graduate degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata, and a master's degree in management from Yale University. She serves on a number of charitable boards and is a Successor Fellow of Yale Corporation and a member of the Board of Trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships.