Internationally acclaimed film actor Meryl Streep was among five distinguished Americans who were awarded honorary degrees by Princeton University during recent commencement exercises for their contributions to civic engagement, performing arts, engineering and sustainability.Princeton President Shirley M Tilghman awarded degrees to Streep, an Academy Award-winning actor and advocate for women's rights, for her contribution to performing arts.
Honorary degree recipients are elected by Princeton's Board of Trustees. A trustee committee, which includes faculty and students, solicits nominations from the entire University.
Meryl Streep, who was born in Summit, New Jersey, is an actress known across the globe for her roles in film, theatre and television.
On stage, she has appeared in plays by Shakespeare, Strindberg, Chekhov, Brecht and Tennessee Williams. On television, she has starred in the groundbreaking miniseries Holocaust and Angels in America.
She holds the record for 15 Academy Awards and 23
Golden Globe nominations in acting, and has won two Oscars, six Golden Globes, two Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.
An outspoken advocate for women's rights, Streep is active in the Equality Now human rights organisation. She works for the well-being of children and the environment through several initiatives and was a co-founder of Mothers and Others. She also has been a regular sponsor of the Academy of American Poets' 'Poetry and the Creative Mind' Gala.
Princeton University noted that 'in an age of celebrity, she represents craftsmanship; in an age dominated by directors, she represents the centrality of the actor; in an age of special effects, she represents the power of the written word and artful movement; in an age of virtual reality, she reminds us of the story's power to shed light on what is real.'
'She sees herself as a translator whose mission is to explain people to each other. Today we tell her how well she has succeeded,' a Princeton release said.
