The UF Board of Trustees is expected to approve an honorary degree endorsed by the College of Fine Arts to the late musician Bo Diddley on Thursday.
Janine Sikes, UF spokeswoman, said degrees have been awarded posthumously in the past, and she sees no reason why the musician's death would play a role in the decision. Diddley died Monday of heart failure. He was 79.
Sikes went on to say that the nominees have already been vetted through a series of reviews and have been recommended to the board by the Faculty Senate. In the past, nominees who have made it to this point have been approved.
"I would anticipate that this would go through as the others have," Sikes said.
Two other nominees are expected to receive degrees in addition to the rock and roll innovator.
Ann Lurie is a graduate of the UF College of Nursing, which endorsed her nomination. Since her graduation, Lurie has participated in numerous philanthropic activities, including her recent $100 million donation to the Chicago Children's Memorial Hospital, according to the meeting overview.
Hamilton Smith, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1978, is expected to receive a degree for his cutting edge work with genetics and genomics during the past 40 years, according to the overview.
Smith is also being endorsed by the UF College of Medicine. According to Smith's autobiography on the Nobel Prize Web site, his father was an appointed assistant professor at the UF College of Education, thus Smith lived in Gainesville periodically throughout his early childhood.
According to the Office of the President's Web site, honorary degrees are awarded to individuals who have achieved accomplishments of "lasting significance of value" in either scholarship or public service.
Nominees must be supported by prominent members of their recognized field and are then reviewed by a committee, which makes recommendations for approval to the Faculty Senate and Board of Trustees. According to the Web site, honorary degrees are the "greatest recognition" UF can give, other than an earned doctorate.
