Honorary Hopkins degree for Amartya Sen, Suu Kyi

Nobel Laureate and eminent Indian-American economist Amartya Sen will receive an honorary degree from the prestigious Johns Hopkins University.

Apart from Sen, five other persons including Myanamar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, environmental microbiologist Rita R Colwell, Canadian diplomat-politician Stephen H Lewis, American businessman and philanthropist John C Malone and IBM chairman Samuel J Palmisano have also been chosen for the prestigious citation.

They would receive the degrees later this week. Suu Kyi would be given her degree in absentia.

The degrees would be awarded at a ceremony in the university on May 24.

While Colwell is well known for her efforts to ensure safe drinking water for all, Lewis holds a distinguished place in the field of humanitarian service.

Similarly, Malone is the head of media conglomerate Liberty Media Corporation which provides broadband distribution and video programming in Europe, Latin America and Australia.

Founded in 1976, Johns Hopkins University is considered among best research institutions in the US and has been consistently ranked among world's top universities.