PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — At its 257th Commencement on Sunday, May 25, Brown University conferred honorary doctorates on seven candidates who have achieved great distinction in a variety of fields. The recipients included:

• Jon Batiste — Award-winning musician
• Allyson Felix — Olympic gold medalist
• Eileen Hayes — Social services leader
• Suleika Jaouad — Author and artist
• William Kentridge — Artist
• Timothy Snyder — Historian
• Kevin Young — Award-winning poet

Honorary degrees are awarded by the Board of Fellows of the Corporation of Brown University. They were conferred by University President Christina H. Paxson during Commencement exercises.

Below is the text from the honorary degree citations read aloud during the ceremony and presented to each recipient. Biographical notes are included in the University’s announcement of the 2025 recipients.

Jon Batiste 
Doctor of Music
Award-winning musician

Singer, songwriter, musician and more extraordinaire. From “The Late Show” to the Super Bowl, you have moved the world with your artistry and your humanity. From roots sown deep in the culture and community of New Orleans, as well as your family’s rich musical tradition, you began to find your rhythm and your voice at a young age as the 8-year-old percussionist in the Batiste Brothers Band. And it became clear to you that music has the power to create community. Your musical journey has taken you to the halls of Juilliard, the stages of Carnegie Hall and the streets of cities across the globe with your signature love riot — a moving parade of sound, humanity, peace and joy. You once described the experience of jazz improvisation “as if everything that’s happening is aligned with the greater force controlling the universe.” We are most fortunate to hear and feel in our soul that alignment through your music, your words and your character. And we are deeply proud to bestow upon you the degree of Doctor of Music.

Allyson Felix 
Doctor of Humane Letters
Olympic gold medalist

An Olympian, athlete, influencer, advocate and trailblazer, you have inspired the nation and the world with your accomplishments on and off the track. As a leading member of the United States National Team, you have represented your country with distinction in five Olympic games, earning 11 medals, seven of them gold. Though your sport is known for individual distinction, more than half of your Olympic medals are from the 100-meter and 400-meter relays, where smooth handoffs are as essential as speed, and you excel at both. As a highly decorated athlete and an advocate for women, you are a role model for young people across the world. You have used your voice and platform to push for desperately needed improvements in maternal health care for Black mothers, as well as lasting changes in maternity protections for female athletes. Generations of athletes who follow your path on the track and in life will benefit from your example and your courage. For your enduring and golden contributions to sport and to society, we honor you with the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Eileen Hayes 
Doctor of Humane Letters
Social services leader

As president and CEO of Amos House for nearly 25 years, you lead with grace and wisdom a vitally important Providence-based nonprofit organization that, in the words of its mission, helps people help themselves out of oppression, homelessness and poverty. Under your guidance, and with your tireless and accomplished colleagues, Amos House has grown from a small soup kitchen to a multi-service organization offering a comprehensive range of services, including food support, social services, job training and health services. You have driven efforts that have helped thousands of vulnerable individuals transition from homelessness and addiction to stable housing and employment. Remarkably, approximately half of the current Amos House staff members were at one time guests of Amos House. As an outstanding citizen of Providence and Rhode Island, you have inspired and continue to inspire this community in countless ways. With tremendous gratitude and admiration, we are deeply proud to award you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Suleika Jaouad 
Doctor of Letters
Author and artist

Through your exquisitely honest writing you share deeply personal challenges and triumphs in everyday life. Motivated to travel to where the silence is, you embarked on an epic American road trip across 15,000 miles. With vivid detail and unwavering sincerity, you shared the stories of those touched by your own battle with a life-threatening illness. In listening to, and writing about, their accounts of survival, grief, and seemingly boundless hope, you delved with care and respect into the space between the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick. You are a guide for many as your own journey has continued to unfold. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, you launched the inspired and inspiring Isolation Journals project, which brought care and creativity to thousands when they needed it most, building a vibrant community that continues to thrive and expand. You have, in the words you have spoken to others, achieved what it means to “actually be well, which is to say: alive in the messiest, richest, most whole sense.” With profound respect and admiration for your artistry, we present you with the degree of Doctor of Letters.

William Kentridge 
Doctor of Fine Arts
Artist

Through your captivating work in visual art, film and theater, you have expanded the boundaries of artistic expression. Your ability to seamlessly blend the personal with the political, and the historical with the contemporary, in your work mirrors the interdisciplinary spirit that we cherish across the arts at Brown. The stories you tell inspire us to reimagine how we see our past and envision the future. Your work demonstrates a commitment to community that embraces diversity, inclusion and social justice through the transformative potential of the arts. As co-founder of the Centre for the Less Good Idea in your native Johannesburg, you have made space and time for the cultivation of experimental work, including the play “Houseboy,” which you directed for a production at The Lindemann Performing Arts Center in 2024. For your extraordinary contributions to the world of art and ideas, we celebrate you with the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.

Timothy Snyder 
Doctor of Letters
Historian

As an internationally renowned historian and a proud member of the Brown University Class of 1991, you have led a life of usefulness and reputation, ever true to Brown’s values. As an undergraduate on College Hill at the end of the Cold War, you were inspired to take interest in Eastern Europe and Russia by distinguished Brown Professor of History Patricia Herlihy. You have taken that interest to exceptional heights, winning some of the most prestigious prizes in your field. Now a leader in European history, yours has been a voice of clarity and truth, not just in the halls of academia but across the globe. In recent years, you have become a guiding light in preserving and sustaining democracy. You have done so with moral clarity and an ease of explication that has inspired many, including the more than 1.5 million people who have watched the introductory lecture of your course The Making of Modern Ukraine on YouTube. Your wisdom, your insight, and your ability to convey complex historical movements with relevance to the most challenging problems of today are both necessary and impactful. With deep pride, as your Alma Mater, we present you with the degree of Doctor of Letters.

Kevin Young 
Doctor of Letters
Award-winning poet

Poet, critic, essayist, editor, canon-shaper, curator, educator, historian: Kevin Young, you are a literary dynamo and cultural connector. No matter what hat you wear, you are a maestro American storyteller, luminously excavating inner recesses and obscured national pasts. Whatever you touch comes to life for us. Your work is erudite, vibrant, touching, mournful, ecstatic and funky. As one of the leading poets of your generation, whether exploring the weight of loss, the histories of resilience or the richness of Black vernacular, you write poetry that invites us to listen more closely to language, to history and to one another. As the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, you have brought integrity, empathy and an unwavering commitment to mission in honestly and bravely telling the story of some of our country’s darkest and brightest moments. As an alumnus of Brown, you bring great honor to this University. For your contributions as a poet of extraordinary resonance, a cultural curator of unmatched insight and a leader committed to honoring and uplifting African American heritage, we are proud to bestow upon you the degree of Doctor of Letters.