Hult International Business School Names Indra Nooyi and Tim Brown as 2024 Honorary Doctorate Degree Recipients

Two of the most impactful leaders in business will be awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees in 2024 by Hult International Business School (@Hult_Business).

Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, and Tim Brown, chair of IDEO and design thinking innovator, have been named this year’s recipients based on each leader’s outsized impact in their respective industries, as well as their commitment to innovation and purpose-driven leadership.

“We are proud to award those who exemplify what we teach and believe to be true: business leadership requires not just intelligence and vision, but a desire to use business as a platform to make the world a better place,” said Hult President Matt Lilley.

“As a lifelong proponent of the importance of education, I am thrilled to be named a recipient of this year’s Honorary Doctorate Degree from Hult International Business School, said Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo.

“Having spent a career in business where I saw first-hand the impact of things like collaboration, innovation, learning by doing, shared purpose, and diversity of thought and perspectives—many of the things that Hult teaches as part of its curriculum—I am optimistic that students learning these skills today will become our strong, globally focused leaders of tomorrow. Thank you for this honor.”

Nooyi ran PepsiCo, Inc. for more than two decades, serving as chair and CEO of the company from 2006 to 2018. She has consistently been named as one of the world’s most powerful people by Forbes, Fortune, and Time magazine. While at PepsiCo, Nooyi also led the Performance with a Purpose strategy, which prioritized environmental and societal needs alongside financial and organizational growth.

Tim Brown is chair of IDEO, the global firm that has led the industry in design innovation and design thinking since its founding in 1991. Brown served as CEO at IDEO from 2000 to 2019. An industrial designer by training, Brown is author of the ground-breaking book ‘Change by Design’ and speaks globally on topics related to design collectivism, innovation, and creative competitiveness. His work has been exhibited at galleries worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“Thank you to Hult for inviting me to accept this degree and, in doing so, become part of the Hult family,” said Tim Brown, chair of IDEO.

“Applying design thinking, creativity, and innovation to business environments is my passion—and I am excited to align with an organization that brings that same amount of passion to education and teaching. We also share a global mindset and a focus on problem solving through ‘doing.’ I’m honored to be associated with a school that values these attributes and sees them as a path to success for today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders.”

The Hult Honorary Doctorate Degree is given each year to individuals who embody Hult’s mission of making an impact that matters and inspiring others to do the same. In 2023, inaugural recipients of the degree included former Unilever CEO and sustainability pioneer Paul Polman and technology innovator, entrepreneur, and AI futurist Azeem Azhar.

Indra Nooyi and Tim Brown will accept this year’s awards during Hult’s global graduation ceremonies in August 2024.

“For the second year, we are proud to award individuals who exemplify what we teach at Hult and what we believe to be true: that business leadership requires not just intelligence and vision, but also the desire to use business as a platform to make the world a better place,” said Matt Lilley, President at Hult International Business School.

“Both Indra and Tim have proven throughout their impressive careers that you can balance profit with purpose and inspire others by being authentic leaders who change the way things are done. I’m excited to bestow our Honorary Doctorate Degree to each of them at Hult’s graduation ceremonies this summer.”