Bill Gates to Receive Honorary Doctorate and Speak at NAU 2023 Spring Commencement Ceremonies

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Bill Gates will be receiving an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University during 2023’s commencement ceremony on May 13, the university announced Thursday.

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will deliver the keynote address during the graduation ceremony.

“It is our privilege to recognize Bill Gates for his pioneering work in science and technology and his longstanding thought leadership and philanthropic commitment to creating a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy life and live up to their full potential,” NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera said, in a statement announcing the speakers.

Bill Gates speaks onstage at the TIME100 Summit 2022 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, on June 7, 2022. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)

Gates is one of four who will be recognized with honorary doctoral degrees from Northern Arizona University during the commencement ceremonies on May 12 and 13.

Arturo A. Massol-Deyá, executive director of Casa Pueblo, an environmental community-based organization, will deliver the first keynote address of the weekend. Ty White, the 2023 Arizona Education Foundation Teacher of the Year, will follow, as well as David P. Franke, a principal at Franke & Company and president of the Northern Arizona University Foundation Board.

Gates founded the successful tech company Microsoft in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen. He also founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he started with his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2008.

The Gates Foundation states that it is focused on expanding opportunities to save and improve the lives of people around the world by addressing global health and development issues, agricultural development, water sanitation and hygiene practices, pandemic prevention, and disease eradication, among other issues.

“We wake up every day determined to use our resources to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life. Most importantly, we believe this: All lives have equal value. That’s why we made the decision to donate our wealth from Microsoft to help others,” Gates and his wife said in a joint statement. “As our commitment to our work grew, we transferred $20 billion of Microsoft stock to our foundation, making it the largest of its kind in the world. We devoted more and more time to its work until we were both doing it full-time. And when our good friend Warren Buffett donated much of his fortune to our foundation, it allowed us to raise our ambitions about taking on the toughest, most important problems.”

Gates shared how he is incorporating advanced AI technology tools into his businesses and foundation causes during an appearance at the 2023 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego.

“The whole purpose of an entity like the Gates Foundation or many others will be to make sure this gets used on an equitable basis. For us, therefore, the two domains of great interest are health and education. And over the last six months, I’ve been to so many long meetings where we brainstorm, ‘Okay, what does this mean for drug discovery for diseases of the poor? What does this mean for health consultations in Africa, where most people live their entire life without meeting a doctor?’ It’s not that they only meet a doctor rarely; they never meet a doctor. So many different conditions simply can’t be diagnosed, and we can revolutionize that. And the cost of doing it won’t require some unrealistic amount of financing,” Gates told the crowd during the interview.

Gates and his ex-wife Melinda recently celebrated their daughter Jennifer Gates’ 27th birthday and wrote her a heartwarming birthday tribute on Wednesday.

“Happy birthday, Jenn! You continue to amaze me with your intelligence, creativity, and compassion,” Gates wrote alongside a photo of the two smiling. “I feel incredibly lucky to be your dad, and I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. Love you always!”

The Epoch Times reached out to NAU officials for comment.