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Jony Ive awarded Stephen Hawking Fellowship for his ‘influential’ role in modern technology

Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive today was awarded the Professor Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union Society. Ive is the second ever recipient of the award, which was created last year to recognize contributions to STEM fields and social discourse.

As noted by Varsity, Ive was announced as the recipient of the Professor Hawking Fellowship during a ceremony today at Cambridge Union.

Ive, who is responsible for designing the iMac, iPod, MacBook Air, iPhone and iPad, is an honorary fellow of Jesus College. He holds over 5,000 patents and was knighted in 2006 for his ‘services to the design industry’.

To choose this year’s Hawking Fellowship recipient, the Cambridge Union’s ‘Hawking Committee’ listed 14 prominent figures in STEM fields, then had three Cambridge academics rank each of them.

The Hawking Fellowship was created by the Cambridge Union Society in 2017, in partnership with Professor Stephen Hawking.

The Union Society approached Hawking about the creation of a fellowship in his name in late 2017, with the intention of recognising Hawking’s contribution to Cambridge, academia and disability rights. Hawking delivered the Inaugural Fellowship Lecture in November 2017, in what was one of his last public appearances before his death in March 2018.

Ive was touted by Charles Connor, Cambridge Union Society President for Michaelmas 2018, as one of the “most influential individuals in modern technology.”

Ive will now give a lecture during the first academic term at Cambridge University’s Debating Chamber. He’s expected to give a “reflection on his career, split with a more general reflection on technology and design as a whole.”


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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

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